Ukraine hopes the EU will add it to the list of countries from which free entry is allowed in two weeks, Spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Oleh Nikolenko said.
“There is no policy in the recommendation of the European Commission. Every two weeks, the EU member states revise the list of third countries for free entry into the EU. The recommendation is formed, in particular, based on four factors: the rate of new cases of COVID-19 reported per 100,000 population over the previous 14 days, the number of tests in seven days, the level of positive tests and the nature of the virus, in particular the presence of more dangerous strains,” Nikolenko told Interfax-Ukraine on Thursday.
He said the indicators in Ukraine for the period when the European Commission conducted the assessment, even exceeded the norm.
“It should be borne in mind here that the assessment of indicators was conducted not over the past days, but over the previous several weeks, when they were higher. Since we are now more and more approaching the norm established by the European Commission, on behalf of Minister of Foreign Affairs Dmytro Kuleba, the Ukrainian Delegation to the EU is interacting with the European side to include Ukraine in the list during its next review,” the spokesperson said.
At the same time, he drew attention to the fact that the recommendation of the European Commission to open the EU borders for a certain list of countries is not legally binding.
“EU member states individually approve final decisions to weaken or strengthen travel restrictions. Accordingly, the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry is working with European countries on a bilateral level to simplify travel conditions for Ukrainians, in particular the recognition of vaccination certificates and digital COVID-19 certificates,” Nikolenko said.
