BRUSSELS — The European Union (EU) Thursday announced that it had added Kuwait to the list of epidemiologically safe non-EU countries, for which the EU countries should reopen the borders for non-essential travel.

The EU Council of Ministers updates the safe travel list based on criteria relating to coronavirus infection levels every two weeks.

Following a review under the recommendation on the gradual lifting of the temporary restrictions on non-essential travel into the EU, the Council updated the list of countries, special administrative regions and other entities and territorial authorities for which travel restrictions should be lifted.

In particular, Chile, Kuwait and Rwanda were added to the list and Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Republic of Moldova were removed from the list.

Non-essential travel to the EU from countries or entities not listed in Annex I is subject to temporary travel restriction. This is without prejudice to the possibility for member states to lift the temporary restriction on non-essential travel to the EU for fully vaccinated travelers.

As stipulated in the Council recommendation, this list will continue to be reviewed every two weeks and, as the case may be, updated.

On July 1, the European Union published an updated list of countries for the gradual lifting of the temporary restrictions on non-essential travel into the 27-member bloc.

It added ten more countries including Jordan, Qatar and Saudi Arabia to the list and recommended to EU member states as from 1 July to lift the travel restrictions at the EU external borders for residents of those countries.

The updated list includes Albania, Armenia (new), Australia, Azerbaijan (new), Bosnia and Herzegovina (new), Brunei Darussalam (new), Canada (new), Israel, Japan, Jordan (new), Lebanon, Montenegro (new), New Zealand, Qatar (new), Moldova (new), North Macedonia, Rwanda, Saudi Arabia (new), Serbia, Singapore, South Korea, Thailand and the United States of America.

China is subject to confirmation of reciprocity. Under the category of entities that are not recognized as states by at least one EU member state, travel restrictions for Kosovo (new) and Taiwan should also be gradually lifted, it said.

The criteria to determine the non-EU countries for which the current travel restriction should be lifted cover the epidemiological situation and overall response to COVID-19, as well as the reliability of the available information and data sources. — Agencies