Croatia Activates EU’s Crisis Response to Coronavirus Outbreak

Croatia, which took on the six-month rotating European Union presidency on January 1, on Tuesday activated the EU's Integrated Crisis Response, IPCR, to the coronavirus outbreak, which has claimed dozens of lives in China.

The mechanism supports rapid and coordinated decision-making at an EU political level in case a crisis occurs, and provides concrete tools to streamline information sharing.

"The [EU] Presidency has taken this step proactively to ensure that the EU Member States are prepared for all possible developments," it said.

The EU Civil Protection Mechanism has also been activated following a request from France for support for EU citizens trapped in Wuhan, the city in central China where the outbreak has occurred. The EU will reportedly co-finance the transport costs of the aircraft bringing them home.

As the #Coronavirus outbreak intensifies, the EU Civil Protection Mechanism has been activated on request from France.
Two planes will be mobilised to repatriate EU citizens from the Wuhan area to Europe.
➡️ https://t.co/HKMpin3PE1

Overview of the outbreak with latest data ↓ pic.twitter.com/RmyLuyqUf2

— European Commission 🇪🇺 (@EU_Commission) January 28, 2020

"The EU does not forget its citizens in need, wherever they are in the world… Our EU Emergency Response Coordination Centre is working 24/7 and is in constant contact with the Member States, the EU Delegations in the region and the Chinese embassy in Brussels," Janez Lenarcic, the Commissioner for Crisis Management, said.

Japan and the US have already evacuated hundreds of their citizens from Wuhan.

But numerous European nationals remain trapped there. They include four Croatian citizens and three Bulgarian...