The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Boris Johnson, assured this Monday that he is doing everything possible to allow freight traffic on the border with France, which is currently stopped due to the new mutation.
In a press conference this afternoon, the official said that he has maintained contact with the French President, Emmanuel Macron, to speed up the situation. “We had a friendly call and understood the positions of each side”, he adds, adding: “We want to resolve these problems quickly”.
“We are trying to find a solution as soon as possible, with a view to allowing freight transport traffic between the United Kingdom and France, ensuring that trucks will be able to move in both directions safely”, he guaranteed.
Johnson reveals that he understands the concerns “of our friends about this new variant, but we believe that the transmission risks for truck drivers are very low, so we hope to make progress as soon as possible”.
“I want to repeat that these delays apply only to a small percentage of food products that arrive in the United Kingdom and the supply chains are solid, so that everyone will be able to continue shopping normally”, he guarantees.
In relation to “the partners, namely France”, the official “understands the concerns perfectly”, but expects everyone to understand that “as soon as we were informed of the rapid nature of the contagion of this new strain, we launched all the necessary information and took quick measures to prevent its spread ‘.
“We want to work with our counterparts and friends around the world, to develop new treatments and vaccines,” he says, adding: “The virus is moving very quickly but it is being defeated by a firm international response and that is also the hope with vaccines that will reach the whole world ”, he concludes.
It is recalled that in the United Kingdom there are currently hundreds of Portuguese truck drivers who are awaiting authorization to be able to return to their country, due to the new mutation of Covid-19, which forced the closure of borders.
Speaking to ‘Renascença’, Pedro Polónio, president of the National Association of Public Road Transport of Goods (ANTRAM) reveals that he will ask the Government for an emergency meeting to find a solution, adding that he does not believe that the virus is the real cause of this situation.
«We will contact the Portuguese Government and expose the urgency that this has, particularly in a week like this when there are people who are held there and who have the right to return to their homes as they always did, as they did last week when there was already the same strain of the virus, ”said the official.
For Pedro Polónio the virus is just a way to cover up the real reason for the closing of borders. “Either they are not counting everything that happens with that strain, or else the strain cannot be the fundamental reason for what is happening to be happening”, he defends.
“It seems to us that the fundamental reason is much more Brexit and now they want to take force measures, but take force measures with trucks and people, they cannot do it”, says the president of ANTRAM.
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