EU re-issues travel restriction from Serbia, Montenegro

BRUSSELS

EU countries decided to reintroduce travel restrictions for those who will travel from Serbia and Montenegro.

Under the new rules, only residents of Algeria, Australia, Canada, Georgia, Japan, Morocco, New Zealand, Rwanda, South Korea, Thailand, Tunisia, and Uruguay can enter freely the territory of the EU.

Chinese visitors are also welcome in case the Asian country grants the same rights to EU citizens.

The EU is committed to gradually open its external borders which had been closed to contain the spread of COVID-19 since mid-March.

The member states agreed to update the list in every two weeks giving green light to travel from countries based on epidemiological criteria.

There are no new countries added to the previous list released on June 30.

Under the current rules, Turkish or US citizens traveling from their countries can not enter the EU unless they are closer relatives to an EU citizen, long-term residents of the EU or work in the health sector.

Residents of the mini-states of Andorra, Monaco, San Marino, and the Vatican are treated as EU nationals for entry.

The agreement is a non-binding coordination among 30 countries, including four EU countries who have not joined yet the Schengen area -- Bulgaria, Romania, Croatia and Cyprus -- and four non-EU members of the borderless zone -- Norway, Lichtenstein, Switzerland, and Iceland.

Governments can freely limit or expand the list, but those allowing travelers from non-listed external countries risk to have their EU peers close again the borders.