* News and photo: Anadolu Agency (AA)
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The European Union (EU) countries have decided to allow nationals from 14 countries to enter the bloc's territory as of today (July 1).
The agreement between the EU states will gradually lift travel restrictions for non-EU nationals which were adopted in mid-March 2020 to contain the spread of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak.
Accordingly, in the first wave, the residents of Algeria, Australia, Canada, Georgia, Japan, Montenegro, Morocco, New Zealand, Rwanda, Serbia, South Korea, Thailand, Tunisia, and Uruguay can travel to the EU.
Visitors from China are also welcome on the condition that Beijing grants the same rights to the EU citizens.
EU will revise the list every two weeks
The EU will revise the list every two weeks based on epidemiological criteria, including the countries' overall response to COVID-19 and declining infection rates which reflect similar or lower cases per 100,000 inhabitants compared to the average in the EU countries.
Under the current rules, citizens of Turkey or the US cannot enter the EU unless they are close relatives of an EU citizen, long-term residents of the EU, or work in the healthcare sector.
Residents of the mini-states of Andorra, Monaco, San Marino, and the Vatican are treated as EU nationals for entry.
The gradual lifting requires coordination between 30 countries, including four EU countries who have yet to join the Schengen area – namely Bulgaria, Romania, Croatia and Southern Cyprus – and four non-EU members of the borderless zone (Norway, Lichtenstein, Switzerland, Iceland).
The decision has been the result of long and difficult negotiations between EU countries with varied approaches to travel restrictions.
The agreement is non-binding, but countries allowing in travelers from non-listed external countries risk having their EU peers again closing the borders and not letting the citizens of non-abiding countries enter.
Turkey expresses 'disappointment' over the ban
Earlier today (July 1), Turkey expressed "disappointment" to the EU over its decision to continue a travel ban on Turkish nationals.
In a statement, Foreign Ministry spokeserson Hami Aksoy conveyed Ankara's concerns over excluding Turkey in the recent list of 15 countries including China that have been allowed to travel to EU states.
"Turkey's efforts, measures and achievements made to stem the outbreak of coronavirus are evident," Aksoy has said and added, "This decision should've been taken with objective criteria and while considering the country's success, which was cited as an example by the World Health Organization and the international community."
Underscoring Turkey's "exemplary solidarity with the international community during the pandemic," Aksoy has indicated the country will "continue its cooperation and transparent information sharing regarding the outbreak with European institutions." "We expect this mistake regarding travel restrictions for our citizens will be corrected as soon as possible," he has said. (EKN/PT/SD)
