Uganda misses out on EU safe list countries

July 2, 2020 in Foreign News, Transport, Travel & Tourism by Editor

Over the weekend, a draft list of 54 countries, in which Uganda featured, was whittled down to the final 15 after much discussions.

Uganda missed out on a list of initial countries whose citizens are allowed to travel to European Union (EU) effective July 1^st.

According to SchengnVisaInfo, EU Member States finally approved a list of 15 countries on Tuesday, considered as safe due to their epidemiological situation in relation to Coronavirus. This was after days of intense discussions and disagreements.

As of July 1, residents of Algeria, Australia, Canada, China, Georgia, Japan, Montenegro, Morocco, New Zealand, Rwanda, Serbia, South Korea, Thailand, Tunisia and Uruguay, will be permitted to enter.

Over the weekend, a draft list of 54 countries, in which Uganda featured, was whittled down to the final 15. China is on the list, but only on the condition of reciprocal action by the Chinese authorities.

However, the ‘safe list’ will be reviewed every two weeks and adjusted depending on the latest Coronavirus developments in each country. The criteria to determine the third countries for which travel restrictions are lifted cover the epidemiological situation and containment measures, including physical distancing, as well as economic and social considerations.

Travellers from these countries must first check with the EU country they wish to visit, as the Member States are permitted to exclude some of the countries from the list when it comes to who can enter their borders since the policy is not legally binding.