EU wants borders free of virus restrictions by end of June

BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Union’s Home Affairs commissioner says Europe’s free travel area should be back up and running by the end of the month. Ylva Johansson said health experts believe that confinement measures have largely checked the spread of the coronavirus and that border restrictions should be lifted. She spoke Friday after a meeting of EU interior ministers. But she says most EU ministers want to extend a ban on all but essential travel into Europe from the outside world until early July. European countries began slapping on border restrictions after the coronavirus outbreak spread through northern Italy in February.