EU's von der Leyen - talks underway over possible border closure extension

EC President von der Leyen speaks on coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Brussels

PARIS (Reuters) - European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen said on Friday that talks were underway among European Union member states over whether or not to extend border closures beyond Easter in order to tackle the coronavirus crisis.

"We are in consultation with member states on how to proceed beyond Easter," she told Europe 1 radio.

Von Der Leyen also reiterated that the next EU budget should take the form of a new "Marshall Plan" to drive Europe's recovery from the coronavirus outbreak, and that she felt Europe would emerge from the coronavirus crisis in a stronger state.

(Reporting by Benoit Van Overstraeten and Sudip Kar-Gupta; Editing by Alex Richardson)