EU leaders to hold almost weekly video-conferences on COVID-19 pandemic

Ireland's Prime Minister (Taoiseach) Micheal Martin speaks to the media as he arrives for the European Union leaders face-to-face summit in Brussels, Belgium October 16, 2020. REUTERS/Johanna Geron/Pool

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - European Union leaders have agreed to hold video conferences almost on a weekly basis to coordinate national measures against the COVID-19 pandemic, as the continent battles a spike in infections.

The EU's 27 nations fought COVID-19 with different, sometimes contrasting measures, in the first months of the pandemic. The tighter coordination is expected to avoid a repetition of divisions seen after the first outbreaks.