A number of 54 countries will be allowed to enter the EU and the Schengen Area on July 1 when the international borders are scheduled to be opened. Only Georgia and Ukraine are on the list. The other four Eastern Partnership countries, among which is Moldova, were not included. These aspects were discussed by representatives of the EU Member States on June 24, while on June 25 the draft list was published on the website of TV Euronews, IPN reports.
There are two lists, one for those that will be accepted, and one for those that will not be.
The list reportedly does not include the United States, Russia and other worst-affected countries worldwide by COVID-19.
In a recent analysis written by expert Dionis Cenușa for the Hanns Seidel Foundation of Germany and IPN Agency, the author anticipates that the citizens of Georgia have considerable chances of benefitting from the opening of the EU borders and of resuming travel.
For now the European side hasn’t published the exact criteria used to determine the countries that will be eligible to travel to Europe. Euronews said that there is disagreement between nations on the criteria to use for this decision, with some maintaining that data about COVID rates is not reliable. They are asking the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control to come up with more details, adding that the lists will be reviewed every two weeks.
Political researcher Dionis Cenușă, in a comment on social networking sites, notes the authorities should come into contact with the European countries immediately so as to clarify the situation. Also, the EaP states that are on the barred list should ask the EU to develop together “roadmaps” that will allow entering the EU upon their implementation. Dionis Cenușă raised the issue in an article for EuObserver in June.
The Moldovan authorities haven’t yet provided an official reaction to the list of eligible countries that was agreed by the EU and reveled by the European media.
Travel based on the liberalized visa regime was also discussed in a public debate entitled “Movement and place of Moldovan citizens in Europe during and after pandemic: opportunities and risks” that was staged by IPN News Agency on June 25.