On Wednesday 8 April, the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, and the Secretary-General of the United Nations, António Guterres, agreed on the “need to strengthen coordination at global level for an exit strategy” from the COVID-19 crisis “to ensure that the pandemic actually comes to an end and to contain the economic costs of the crisis”.
According to the European External Action Service’s press release, issued at the end of their telephone conversation at the request of Mr Guterres, the High Representative said that the EU would do its utmost to play a leading role in the global fight against the pandemic.
Mr Borrell also supported the Secretary-General of the United Nations COVID-19 response and recovery plan, launched at the end of March, and explained the EU's response to the COVID-19 pandemic in Europe and abroad (see EUROPE 12464/14).
The High Representative and the Secretary-General of the United Nations “agreed that in these times of global uncertainty, the strategic partnership between the EU and the UN remains more important and stronger than ever”, the EEAS said. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)