The European Union has excluded Nigeria and 53 other countries from the list of countries whose travelers could enter Europe on July 1.
According to a statement released by Eric Manner, EU Commission spokesman, citizens from Nigeria, Brazil, Qatar, the United States, and Russia would not be allowed to travel into Europe until the COVID-19 pandemic situation in their countries improves.
Manner added that the countries whose citizens have been granted permits into Europe, include Albania, Algeria, Andorra, Angola, Australia, Bahamas, Bhutan, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Canada.
Others listed are Monaco, Mongolia, Montenegro, Morocco, Mozambique, Myanmar, Namibia, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Palau, Paraguay, Rwanda, Saint Lucia, Serbia, South Korea, Tajikistan, Thailand, Tunisia, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Uganda, Ukraine, Uruguay, Uzbekistan, Vatican City, Venezuela, Vietnam, Zambia, China, Costa Rica, Cuba, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Dominica, Egypt, Ethiopia, Georgia, Guyana, India, Indonesia, Jamaica, Japan, Kazakhstan, Kosovo, Lebanon and Mauritius.
Manner said the union had the right to choose who would enter its borders, noting that it was based on health criteria.
“The European Union has an internal process to determine from which countries it would be safe to accept travellers” he said.
The EU Commission had on June 11 presented its recommendation on the reopening of internal Schengen borders on June 15, so that Europeans could travel freely within the borderless areas just as they did before the COVID-19 pandemic.
