EU list of 15 countries allowed into the bloc; U.S., Russia off

The European Union released on Tuesday the list of countries outside the bloc and Schengen area Brussels considers as “safe”. Travelers from these 14+1 countries will be allowed into EU as of July 1, 2020. The list is compiled based on epideliological criteria similar to the EU average of even better. Canada, Australia, Japan and South Korea are among those on the list. But the U.S., Russia, Brazil and most likely also Turkey are off the list.

The countries allowed to enter the bloc as of July 1, 2020, are:

• Algeria, Australia, Canada, Georgia, Japan, Montenegro, Morocco, New Zealand, Rwanda, Serbia, South Korea, Thailand, Tunisia, Uruguay.

China is allowed only if it offers EU countries a reciprocal arrangement.

The list will be regularly updated every two weeks.

The list is advisory, however, Brussels expects from its member states to comply with and threatens that other EU members may close their borders to those states that do not follow the common policy.

Countries of the South that heavily depend on tourism revenues reportedly wanted more countries on the list, however, countries of central and north Europe were against.

Travel to/from UK is dealt separately by the EU as for the duration of the Brexit transition period the country is considered as an EU member.

Greece decided on Monday to ban all direct flights from the UK and Sweden until July 15, 2020.

There was reportedly a lot of debate among the EU’s permanent representatives on Serbia due to “alleged lack of clarity over coronavirus cases,” however, Greece managed to put it on the list.

A question is not how Greece will deal with Turkey as Athens announced on Monday that it will open its two border-crossings with the neighboring country on July 1.

It is worth noting that even nationals of the banned countries manage to enter Greece, for example, via connection flights.

The aim of the bans is to prohibit “mass tourism” from countries not considered as “coronavirus safe.”

More on traveling to Greece as of July 1, 2020, here.