EU Urges Member States to Lift Restrictions for Travelers from Ukraine

The European Council on Thursday updated the list of countries, special administrative regions and other entities and territorial authorities for which travel restrictions on non-essential travel into the EU should be lifted.

In particular, Ukraine was added to the list and Rwanda and Thailand were removed from the list.

The Council said that the list will continue to be reviewed regularly and, as the case may be, updated.

Based on the criteria and conditions set out in the recommendation, as from July 15 member states should gradually lift the travel restrictions at the external borders for residents of the following third countries: Albania, Armenia, Australia, Azerbaijan, Bosnia and Hercegovina, Brunei Darussalam, Canada, Israel, Japan, Jordan, Lebanon, Montenegro, New Zealand, Qatar, Republic of Moldova, Republic of North Macedonia, Saudi Arabia, Serbia, Singapore, South Korea, Ukraine (new), United States of America and China (subject to confirmation of reciprocity).

Photo source: European Parliament

Travel restrictions should also be gradually lifted for Hong Kong and Macao (special administrative regions of China). Under the category of entities and territorial authorities that are not recognised as states by at least one member state, travel restrictions for Kosovo and Taiwan should also be gradually lifted.

Residents of Andorra, Monaco, San Marino and the Vatican should be considered as EU residents for the purpose of this recommendation.

The criteria to determine the third countries for which the current travel restriction should be lifted were updated on 20 May 2021. They cover the epidemiological situation and overall response to COVID-19, as well as the reliability of the available information and data sources. Reciprocity should also be taken into account on a case by case basis.

Schengen associated countries (Iceland, Lichtenstein, Norway, Switzerland) also take part in the Council’s recommendation.