Brussels, 31/08/2014 (Agence Europe) - In Brussels on Saturday 30 August, EU heads of state expressed “concern about the crisis caused by the Ebola virus in Africa” and stressed “the importance of the international community as a whole providing substantial coordinated support to the countries of the region (…) to help them tackle the disease as swiftly and efficiently as possible” (see EUROPE 11143).
Alarmed at the scale of the outbreak and the high loss of life (more than 1,500 dead and over 3,070 infected), the heads of state noted that they “welcome the additional funds provided by the European Union and its Member States and their efforts to provide further financial and human resources to meet in particular the increased demand for experts on the ground. The European Council pays tribute to the efforts of humanitarian and health workers in the front line. It urges all countries to follow the World Health Organisation guidelines and allow continued, if controlled, air links to and from the countries concerned so as to enable support efforts to be effective and to allow their economies to continue functioning”. Francois Hollande said the affected countries' economies were being hard hit by the epidemic and they should be helped to deal with it. He said Europe's leaders wanted these countries to be able to tackle the spread of the Ebola virus, but also to have the possibility to live with open economies. This was the nub of the problem, he added, explaining that people from Europe also had to be protected and the crucial monitoring to take place. (AN/IL)
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