The European Union on Saturday called on Washington to reconsider its decision to break with the World Health Organization (WHO), calling for solidarity in the face of the coronavirus which continues to wreak havoc even if the deconfinement continues, especially in Europe. "Global cooperation and solidarity through multilateral efforts are the only effective and viable means of winning this battle the world is facing," said European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and chief of EU diplomacy, Josep Borrell.
Friday, US President Donald Trump, who had already suspended his country's financial contribution to the WHO, has carried out his threat to break with the UN agency, which he has accused since the start of the pandemic of convenience with China, where the coronavirus appeared in December before spreading across the planet. The United States, traditionally the primary donors to WHO, will "redirect these funds to other urgent and global public health needs that deserve them," he said.
Richard Horton, editor-in-chief of the prestigious British medical journal The Lancet, denounced a "crazy and terrifying" decision, and accused the American government of "playing rogue in the middle of a humanitarian emergency". Lawrence Gostin, professor at the O'Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law at Georgetown University and WHO collaborator, has questioned its legality on two counts: the United States has signed and ratified a treaty of WHO membership and credits are voted by the US Congress.
