The New York Times has broken the story that confirms the fears I wrote about last week concerning the potential for those of us in the US to be left off a list of “allowable countries” for entry to Europe’s EU+ zone.
In this article
People From These Countries Will Be Allowed To Visit Europe from July 1st
- Algeria
- Australia
- Canada
- Georgia
- Japan
- Montenegro
- Morocco
- New Zealand
- Rwanda
- Serbia
- South Korea
- Thailand
- Tunisia
- Uruguay
- Andorra
- San Marino
- Monaco
- The Vatican
And if China agrees to allow Europeans into China again, then…
- China
The United Kingdom is also allowed entry to the Continent, as despite Brexit, they are still considered part of the block through the end of 2020.
What is the EU+ Zone?
The EU+ Zone is The European Union (EU) plus Norway, Iceland, Switzerland and Liechtenstein. Despite this confirmation of recommended countries, it’s still possible that any countries within the above can decide on their own to allow countries not on the list to enter, though I’m not banking that any will due to the problems that would create – namely sealing of borders between then and the rest of Europe.
You’ll recall that Iceland had planned to allow visitors from the US as had Spain and Greece.
It remains to be seen, therefore, what Iceland and Spain, among Greece and others, will ultimately decide.
I think Greece is most likely to want to challenge this and go its own way – but that said I don’t actually think they will. Note that the US Embassy to Greece notes both the planned July 1st date to allow US tourists as well as a note about today’s news – and that they don’t know any more than we do.
Exceptions to Europe’s Travel Ban
The NY Times reports the following exceptions: “…health workers, diplomats, humanitarian workers, transit passengers, asylum seekers and students, as well as “passengers traveling for imperative family reasons” and foreign workers whose employment in Europe is deemed essential.”
Canada, Yes – US, No
I found it most “interesting” that our friendly neighbor to the North is on the approved list. I do a lot of business in Canada and so I thought I was pretty in the loop on COVID-19 there, at least in the Toronto area.
Turns out, I was wrong. Canada truly is doing a great job, with just 380 new cases in the whole country yesterday compared to 38,853.
The US population is roughly 10x that of Canada with 100x the cases – so I get it.
Thoughts?
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