Italy shouldn’t have moved to reopen its borders without coordinating with other EU member states first, French Interior Minister Christophe Castaner said, as non-uniform Covid-19 pandemic response keeps testing the block’s unity.
Following more than two months of statewide lockdowns, Italy’s Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte announced on Saturday that starting Italy will allow entrance to European tourists, while the mandatory 14-day quarantine will be scrapped starting June 3. France immediately slammed its neighbor for undermining the idea of European solidarity.
“It’s very important for us to coordinate our decisions on the European level, especially, regarding the Schengen Area. But today it’s not happening,” Castaner said.
In France, travel restrictions will remain in place until at least June 15, the minister said earlier this month. “The closure of the borders is the rule… we have to keep this protection in place, this will not change soon,” Castaner stated back then.
With 31,763 and 27,625 Covid-19 fatalities to date, Italy and France are among the hardest-hit EU nations, but the authorities in Rome seem to be in a greater rush to return to normal life and revive the stalled economy than their counterparts in Paris.
Besides opening up for European travelers, Italy will allow shops to resume operations on Monday. Gyms, swimming pools, sports centers are set to reopen on May 25, with theatres and cinemas to follow from June 15.
“We’re facing a calculated risk, knowing that the epidemiological curve could rise again,” Conte said as he detailed the rollback of the coronavirus lockdown. The statistics so far seems to be on the PM’s side, with Saturday’s death toll in Italy falling to 153, the lowest since March 9.
