European Union

France will close from Monday all nurseries, schools and universities to try to slow the spread of the coronavirus, President Emmanuel Macron said in a televised address on Thursday (12 March), calling the outbreak the nation's worst public health crisis in a century.

Schools, cafes, bars, and restaurants in Belgium, the home of EU and Nato institutions, were to close due to coronavirus the Belgian prime minister, Sophie Wilmès, said Thursday. All cultural events were also cancelled until further notice. Most shops would remain open on weekdays only, but food shops and pharmacies would stay open all week. Public transport would continue to run, but people were advised to stay home where possible.

Thousands of people have died, the US response has infuriated European allies, and China has gone on a propaganda offensive. The new coronavirus is shaping up to be a cataclysmic event with far-reaching consequences in global politics.

Greece ought to let people apply for asylum and the European Commission would "like to know more about" reports Greece had operated a 'black' detention site where would-be applicants were mistreated, Ylva Johansson, a Swedish EU commissioner said in Athens on Thursday. "Individuals in the European Union have the right to apply for asylum. This is in the treaty, this is in international law. This we can't suspend," Johansson said.

Shares in leading airlines tumbled by over 10 percent Thursday, aggravated by a US travel ban on the EU, prompting the industry's world body, The International Air Transport Association (IATA), to call for help. "Without a lifeline from governments we'll have a sectoral financial crisis piled on top of the public health emergency," IATA director-general Alexandre de Juniac said. Transatlantic routes account for 20-30 percent of large European operators' revenue.

EU states should keep borders open where possible and not give in to coronavirus "nationalism", French president Emmanuel Macron has said.

US president Donald Trump hit the EU economy with an unexpected travel ban, while markets went into a freefall after disappointment with the European Central Bank's measures to offset the coronavirus fallout.

Member states are taking varying courses of action to fight the spread of coronavirus, despite efforts by the European Commission to coordinate an EU response.

Some 5,000 people stuck on the Greek islands will each be offered €2,000 to go home. The scheme, which will take several weeks before it is officially launched, will be valid for one month.

State of emergency laws, some in breach of the constitution, were tabled in the Danish parliament in a bid to halt the spread of coronavirus.

The European Commission told all non-essential staff to work from home as of 16 March given the Covid-19 pandemic. "Colleagues who ensure critical functions will continue to be present at work, working in shifts," it said. All group visits have also been suspended.

The director of one of Brussels' European schools, Micheline Sciberras, said in a statement on Wednesday that the group had decided to suspend obligatory regular attendance of pupils and suspend lessons in situ in all European Schools, starting from Monday March 16 to March 29, adding this decision "has not been taken lightly, and been a consultative one."

Germany's domestic intelligence agency, the BfV, is to conduct enhanced surveillance on a faction of the AfD far-right political party, called Flügel, after designating it a threat to national security. The faction, led by anti-migrant and antisemitic MP Björn Höcke, has some 7,000 members, including Nazi sympathisers. The BfV move comes after a white gunman with extremist views killed nine people in shisha bars in Hessen.

The EU's only response so far is to work with Greece to strengthen the border into south-east Europe - a short-term measure which fails to deal with Turkey's intention to pressure the EU into supporting its wider agenda in Syria.

The Council appointed Rear Admiral lgnacio Villanueva Serrano as new force commander for the EU Naval Operation ATALANTA off the coast of Somalia.

Council and the European Council issued a press release on continuation of decision-making during until 31 March 2020.

Main agenda items, approximate timing, public sessions and press opportunities.

EU education ministers held an informal meeting by video conference.

European Council President Charles Michel and European Commission Ursula von der Leyen issued a joint statement stressing that COVID-19 is a global crisis and that it requires cooperation. The Croatian Presidency aligns itself with this declaration.

The EU issued a declaration on the political situation in Guinea-Bissau encouraging respect of the legal and constitutional framework to resolve the post electoral crisis.