The European Union has announced a list of countries that are
permitted entry when the bloc's international borders are scheduled to
reopen on 1 July.
The New York Times reported that the proposed list of countries that
Europe will reopen its borders to are Algeria, Australia, Canada,
Georgia, Japan, Montenegro, Morocco, New Zealand, Rwanda, Serbia, South
Korea, Thailand, Tunisia, Uruguay, Andorra, San Marino, Monaco and the
Vatican.
Travellers from China will be allowed to enter if Beijing agrees to a reciprocal arrangement for Europeans, the report added.
Notably, the United States, currently the world's worst-affected
country by Covid-19 with more than 2.4 million cases, is not on the
approved list. Other countries on the travel ban list include Russia and
Brazil.
Euronews reported that EU nations are divided over the decision to
draw up the lists based on epidemiological data, with some maintaining
that data about Covid rates is not reliable.
The list is expected to be updated every fortnightly.
EU borders were closed in mid-March to contain the Covid-19 pandemic,
but since 15 June, EU countries have reopened borders within the bloc
to trial tourist visits.