The European Union is about to recommend banning unnecessary travel from the United States due to the spread of the coronavirus, The Wall Street Journal reports, citing diplomatic sources. European officials have been considering the move for much of the past month, as the average infection rate in the US is now higher than in the EU, the newspaper notes.
The pressure to exclude the United States from the list of countries from which tourists are freely allowed has intensified also because Washington maintains a ban on European travel to the United States unless absolutely necessary. In early August, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen warned that the EU would not allow the lack of reciprocity to “drag on for weeks.”
Slovenia, the presidency of the EU, last week recommended the exclusion of the United States and five other countries from the list of countries from which travel is allowed without urgent need. The final decision should be made on Monday, August 30th.
The list of EU countries, which is reviewed every two weeks, is not mandatory for member states, but in the past few months, EU states have tried to adhere to it, the newspaper said. Some countries may permit the entry of vaccinated American tourists.
The EU's decision in June to allow American travelers free entry was driven by a desire to rebuild relations after the tensions caused by the actions of the administration of US President Donald Trump. Europe was opened to Americans after his successor Joe Biden visited Brussels.
On August 19, the European Commission (EC) recognized vaccination certificates issued in Ukraine and in two other countries – Turkey and North Macedonia – valid in the territory of the European Union. Since August 20, vaccination certificates issued in these countries are accepted in the European Union under the same conditions as EU digital certificates. At the same time, Ukraine, Turkey and North Macedonia agreed to consider the digital vaccination certificates of the European Union valid on their territory.
Earlier on August 3, the European Commission announced that each EU country must independently decide whether to recognize on its territory vaccination certificates for those vaccinated with the Russian “Sputnik V”. The European Commission then added that “the presence of a digital COVID certificate is not a precondition for entering the territory of the European Union.” The EC representative recalled that it is recommended to allow entry to citizens vaccinated with vaccines approved by the European regulator (Pfizer / BioNTech, Moderna, AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson) or the World Health Organization (the same plus the Chinese Sinovac and Sinopharm).
The European Commission recognized the certificates of vaccination against coronavirus issued in San Marino, equivalent to those issued throughout the EU and in the Schengen countries. According to the Russian Direct Investment Fund, most of the country's inhabitants are vaccinated with Sputnik V.
