EU has opened border to these countries and China may be next

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These 15 nationalities, with China pending, can now visit Europe 

For weeks now, the majority of EU countries have been allowing travel from within the continent. And today, the bloc is reopening its external borders too – but only to tourists from 14 nations currently ‘deemed’ safe. 

Citizens and residents of Australia, Canada, Japan, Morocco and South Korea will be allowed in, but the USA hasn’t made the ‘safe’ list. 

The EU may also add China to the definitive list, if it reaches a reciprocal agreement for European travellers with the Chinese government. 

The announcement follows weeks of talks within the EU about whether to throw open their borders to travellers from around the world in a bid to reopen their flagging tourism economies, or instead take a more measured approach. 

Whereas Germany and Spain have wanted to play it safe, favouring a short list of countries with low transmission rates, Greece and Portugal have argued for as long a list as possible, according to reports.

France, meanwhile, has made the case for reciprocity: only admitting tourists from countries already allowing travel from Europe. 

The result of these negotiations is a list of 14 countries currently deemed ‘safe’: Algeria, Australia, Canada, Georgia, Japan, Montenegro, Morocco, New Zealand, Rwanda, Serbia, South Korea, Thailand, Tunisia and Uruguay. 

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