Official decision made: Citizens of BiH cannot travel to EU countries

(Patria) - The Council of the European Union has just made a decision on which countries' citizens will be able to travel to EU member states from July 1.

Bosnia and Herzegovina is not on that list.

The list includes Algeria, Australia, Canada, Georgia, Japan, Montenegro, Morocco, New Zealand, Rwanda, Serbia, South Korea, Thailand, Tunisia, Uruguay, and China (conditionally).

The decision will be reviewed every two weeks. Residents of Andorra, Monaco, San Marino, and Vatican City should be considered residents of the EU for the purpose of this recommendation.

The criteria for determining third countries for which current travel restrictions should be lifted include the specific epidemiological situation and protective measures, including physical distancing, as well as economic and social considerations. They are applied cumulatively.

Regarding the epidemiological situation, third countries should meet the following criteria, in particular:

- the number of new COVID-19 cases in the last 14 days per 100,000 inhabitants is close to or below the EU average (as of June 15, 2020)

- a stable or decreasing trend of new cases during this period compared to the previous 14 days

- overall response to COVID-19, taking into account available information, including aspects such as testing, surveillance, contact tracing, containment, treatment, and reporting, as well as the reliability of information and, if necessary, the overall average of International Health Regulations (IHR) results. Information provided by EU delegations in this regard should also be taken into account.