PARIS — French President Emmanuel Macron told British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Friday that he would close the border if the U.K. did not take more restrictive measures to contain the coronavirus.
“We had prepared the closure of our border and told Prime Minister Johnson we would implement it that day if there was no evolution [of British measures],” a senior French official familiar with the conversation told POLITICO.
French paper Libération reported Saturday evening that Macron had “threatened” Johnson. The French official said that was “too strong a word” to describe the call.
The U.K. on Friday ordered pubs and restaurants to shut, and asked people to stay indoors. Schools were also closed. However, Johnson’s office rejected any suggestion he had announced the stricter rules because of another country’s threats.
“As the PM said on Friday these new measures were taken based on scientific advice and following the government’s action plan set out two weeks ago,” said a Downing Street official.
Well before that call between Macron and Johnson, countries had started taking measures on their borders to contain the contagion, and to call for more homogenous measures across the EU.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen called on Monday for a temporary restriction on nonessential travel to the EU due to the coronavirus pandemic. (An exception would be made for the U.K. since it is still in a Brexit transition period.)
The U.K. Foreign Office advised “against all non-essential international travel, initially for a period of 30 days,” effective Tuesday. And France shut its non-EU, external borders on Tuesday at noon. French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe said that evening that for the travel ban to work, all countries within the EU should adopt “coherent” methods.
“Italy, France, Spain, perhaps other countries will do the same soon, chose confinement, it goes without saying that if states, namely neighboring countries like the United Kingdom continue for much longer without such measures, then it’ll be difficult for us to allow entry to British citizens,” Philippe said.
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