Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has asked the EU for stricter border controls because of the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda, her office said on Friday.
The letter sent from Meloni to EU leaders called for border management to be put on the agenda for the upcoming council meeting held from June 18-19.
"The aim is to call for, with full respect for national prerogatives in the field of health protection, enhanced coordination of border surveillance through common rules for managing direct and indirect arrivals from the affected areas," the government wrote in a statement.
Italy's far-right leader Meloni requested a videoconference of EU health ministers "as early as next week".
Since an Ebola outbreak was declared in DRC on May 15, the World Health Organization has recorded 10 confirmed and 223 suspected Ebola deaths in the central African country, out of more than 1,000 confirmed and suspected cases, according to its latest figures up to May 24.
