Transportation security

Europe blindsided by Trump’s travel restrictions, with many seeing political motive

European officials strongly condemned President Trump's decision to severely restrict travel from Europe to the United States on Thursday, a surprise decision that took them by surprise and that many saw as politically motivated.

Of all the slights between Washington and Europe in recent years, the new travel restrictions had all the makings of a historic rupture.
In a short statement on Thursday morning rare in its directness, the European Union expressed only exasperation.

"The Coronavirus is a global crisis, not limited to any continent and it requires cooperation rather than unilateral action," the statement read, co-signed by E.U. Commission President Urusla von der Leyen and E.U. Council President Charles Michel.

“The European Union disapproves of the fact that the U.S. decision to impose a travel ban was taken unilaterally and without consultation.”