EU working to repatriate 250,000 nationals stranded by coronavirus

More than 250,000 European Union citizens are still trying to get home, top diplomat Josep Borrell said on Friday. While the repatriation of EU nationals has been moving swiftly since mid-March, the number of people abroad seeking help keeps rising as more of them seek assistance via their embassies, said the EU’s foreign policy chief.

“We have brought home 350,000 Europeans, but there are still 250,000 remaining and many operations are under way,” Borrell told reporters after an EU foreign ministers’ videoconference.

The EU initially put the number of those in need of repatriation in mid-March at 80,000 and then said on March 20 the number was closer to 300,000, Reuters reported.

“One could not imagine that there are so many Europeans stranded in the world: tourists, visitors, short-term workers. We are not talking about permanent residents,” Borrell said.