(Bloomberg) -- Six Balkan aspirants for European Union membership urged the bloc to exempt them from its recent restrictions on selling protective medical gear to non-members during the Covid-19 pandemic.
“All of us, as Europeans, are working together to successfully face and overcome this enormous challenge,” Serbia, Montenegro, Albania, Kosovo, Bosnia Herzegovina and North Macedonia said in a statement published by the latter's Foreign Ministry Thursday.
They called for the same treatment the EU has given to eight non-members in western Europe, including Norway, Switzerland, the Vatican and Iceland.
The European Commission announced on March 15 that the export of masks, face shields, protective garments and similar equipment outside the bloc must receive special authorization from member states. It cited the EU's need to take care of its own health care systems.
“The coronavirus has spread to all parts of the European continent, and to overcome this common threat requires solidarity and mutual cooperation,” said the countries, which have struggled for years to advance on the path of joining the EU.
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