The European Union (EU)'s foreign policy chief Josep Borrell on Thursday relayed the EU's strong support to the World Health Organization (WHO) in a phone talk with WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
The High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy also reiterated the need to continue working together through the multilateral system to fight the coronavirus pandemic.
The EU's external action service said in a press release that Borrell "expressed concern about the decision by the United States to suspend its funding to the WHO and committed to work towards mobilizing additional resources."
U.S. President Donald Trump announced on Tuesday that his administration is halting the nation's funding to the WHO.
According to the press release, Borrell and Tedros discussed the current situation and the important work of the WHO to stop the spread of the virus, and agreed on the need for global collective investment in preparedness measures to cope with this and future pandemics.
The EU has already pledged 114 million euros (123.58 million U.S. dollars) in response to the WHO appeal to respond to the coronavirus pandemic, said the press release. (1 euro = 1.084 U.S. dollars) Enditem
