European Union publishes list of 14 ‘safe countries’

European Union member states have agreed on a list of so-called “safe countries. The list currently includes 14 countries, whose residents will be allowed to travel back into the Schengen area from July 1.

EU citizens will also be able to travel to those countries outside the Union again, provided that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs relaxes its travel advice. The US and Turkey are the major absentees from the list due to the relatively high number of corona infections. This is reported by the NOS and NU.nl, among others.

Fourteen countries are involved: Algeria, Australia, Canada, Georgia, Japan, Montenegro, Morocco, New Zealand, Rwanda, Serbia, Thailand, Tunisia, Uruguay and South Korea. The health situation in terms of coronavirus was similar or better than the EU average here on June 15. China is also on the list, but it is not yet clear from that country whether it will accept travelers from the EU.

EU countries could not agree on the list last week. It was, according to insiders, a battle between moderates and preconditions. The moderates wanted to admit as many citizens from countries as possible, even though the corona outbreak in those countries was not yet under control. The precarious stood on the brakes and demanded firm guarantees that the virus would not be reimported via a roundabout route.

Greece was one of the stretching countries. It wants to welcome tourists back as soon as possible and sees that the number of bookings has not yet taken off. Italy and Spain are also eager to see the tourists come again, but also the certainty that they have nothing to suffer.

The resistance of the precarious was led by Poland. The country has not been hit hard by the virus and it wants to keep it that way. The Poles demanded guarantees, they wanted assurance that the corona figures were reliable. They were supported by Denmark and Austria in this effort.

Bulgaria defended Turkey’s interests in vain. According to diplomats in Brussels, the country dropped out because the epidemic is not yet sufficiently under control, writes NOS.

The next update of the list is basically in 14 days.