Minister of Culture and Information Policy of Ukraine Oleksandr Tkachenko does not exclude that due to low rates of vaccination in Ukraine, European countries may limit entry for Ukrainian tourists as much as possible.
“Thousands, tens of thousands of disrupted trips, as countries are quickly changing the rules for entry. And there is logic in this. Their governments care about the safety of their citizens, maintain an appropriate level of vaccination. Yesterday I came across statistics of vaccinations in the world. European indicators are about 70%. In the UAE, practically the entire population is vaccinated – 98%. In Ukraine, this figure is 18%, which is very small,” he wrote on the Telegram channel on Thursday.
The minister lamented that the pace of vaccination in Ukraine may lead to the fact that citizens will not be able to actively travel abroad.
“Remember, in February 2020, our tourists were returning home from the Chinese Wuhan, already covered by the epidemic. They were taken for observation in Novi Sanzhary. Frightened people even threw stones at buses then … Of course, Europeans will not throw stones at Ukrainian tourists. Just do not exclude that with such a rate of vaccination, we may be restricted as much as possible from entering. And the restrictions will continue until we reach at least close to the European level of vaccination,” Tkachenko said.
In this regard, the minister once again urged everyone to be vaccinated.
Fourteen countries of the European Union allowed entry for Ukrainian tourists as part of easing restrictions previously imposed to counter the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus infection.
“Country by country, we are returning the full effect of visa-free travel with the EU. Freedom of travel for Ukrainians is among the priorities of the Foreign Ministry,” said Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba, the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry said on its Facebook page on Monday.
The Foreign Ministry recalled that recently the EU Council has included Ukraine in the recommended list of third countries, for whose citizens it is proposed to abolish temporary restrictions on non-compulsory travel to the European Union.
“According to the recommendation of the EU Council, European countries began to open up one after another for all types of travel of Ukrainians. In less than two weeks, Denmark, Germany, Belgium, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Finland, Slovakia, Slovenia, the Netherlands, France, Sweden, Spain, Portugal were added to the list. In most countries, you need a certificate of complete vaccination or a fresh negative test for entry,” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine said.
The ministry drew attention to the fact that the specific conditions of entry into each individual country may differ. All details, as well as a list of vaccines approved in the country, can be checked on the interactive map of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs at: http://tripadvisor.mfa.gov.ua. Answers to common questions about traveling abroad in 2021 can be found at: https://cutt.ly/8mOax7X
