Germany told the European Union it would uphold its latest border restrictions imposed to curb the spread of new coronavirus variants, snubbing calls from the bloc’s executive European Commission, Austria and the Czech Republic, write Gabriela Baczynska and Sabine Siebold.
The Brussels-based executive last week asked Germany and five other countries to ease unilateral restrictions on movement of goods and people, saying they have “gone too far” and were putting a strain on the bloc’s cherished single market.
But Germany’s EU ambassador replied in a March 1 letter, which was seen by Reuters: “We have to uphold the measures taken at the internal borders at the moment in the interest of health protection.”