If Ukraine is out of the EU green list: who will be banned from entering

The situation with the increase in the incidence of coronavirus in Ukraine, as well as the scandal with the mass purchase of vaccination certificates by Ukrainians without being vaccinated, led to the fact that next week the EU Council may announce a decision to exclude Ukraine from the European list of “green zones”. This list includes countries with favorable epidemiological situations.

The likelihood of exclusion was confirmed by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Dmitry Kuleba.

Probability

Brussels revises the list of countries with a dangerous incidence of coronavirus weekly and adjusts it depending on the development of the epidemiological situation in a particular country. Radio Svoboda journalist back in October, he said that the decision to expel Ukraine had already been made.

Last week, almost every day in Ukraine, a new anti-record was set for the number of people infected with COVID-19. At the same time, the chief sanitary doctor of Ukraine, Igor Kuzin, says that the peak incidence in the country has not yet been passed. Improvement can be expected only 12-14 days after the introduction of quarantine restrictions on the red zone.

All this does not give Kiev hopes that the Europeans will leave us on the green list.

Border is locked tight?

As you know, the decision to exclude any country from the list with a favorable epidemiological situation does not automatically mean changing the border crossing rules for citizens of such a country. Such bans are introduced by the EU countries on an individual basis.

Since the recommendations of the Council of Europe are usually accepted by the EU members without much discussion, it can be expected that most countries will still close their borders to “unimportant travel” – such a formulation includes travel for recreation and tourism. Travel for work, study, medical treatment and valid reasons will be possible.

True, the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry promises to influence the situation with tourism.

“After Ukraine is excluded from the EU green list, there will be no total closure of the EU borders. This is a recommendation, and the final decisions will be made by each individual EU country. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine is actively working with partners to preserve the maximum freedom of travel for Ukrainians“, – wrote on his page Dmitry Kuleba on Twitter.

“The experience of some of our neighbors, who were already excluded from the EU green list in previous weeks, demonstrates that one should not expect a total closure of borders like last year.“, – says Oleg Nikolenko, the Foreign Ministry spokesman, on his Facebook page.

International certifications

If we are excluded from the EU green list, each EU country can change the entry rules for Ukrainians. As the situation with other countries excluded from the list shows, the borders remain open for certain types of travel for fully vaccinated citizens with international certificates in hand. Those. European countries can abandon the practice of admitting foreigners if they have only a negative PCR test without vaccination, which is still functioning in a number of countries.

It is best to follow the changes in the conditions of entry for Ukrainian citizens to each individual EU country and other countries of the world on the interactive map of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine. It is updated in real time depending on changes in the rules of entry by other countries.

Cherished list

• Ukraine remains on the EU green list longer than a number of other countries. For example, Moldova, Bosnia and Herzegovina were expelled from there on September 23rd.
• After being removed from the list, for example, Italy banned Moldovan citizens from entering the country. Exceptions were made only for those who went to the country to work, study, medical treatment and for valid reasons. Also, the country was left to enter the country for people with a residence permit in Italy and citizens of EU countries. But they need to spend 10 days in quarantine.