HomeDenmarkNew travel advice model for countries outside of the EU/Schengen and UK

New travel advice model for countries outside of the EU/Schengen and UK

Effective Thursday, 2 July, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark introduces a new travel advice model for countries outside of the EU/Schengen and UK. One key element of the model will be the EU’s new list of countries that meet the defined COVID-19 criteria for entry to the EU.

An updated version of this EU list will be released every 14 days. To be included on the list of countries whose residents can be permitted entry to the EU, a country must be close to or under the average number of new COVID-19 cases in the EU over the past 14 days as of 15 June 2020. At present, this means no more than approximately 16 new cases per 100,000 inhabitants over the last 14 days. Consideration will also be given to the scope of testing and reliability of data for the given country.

Based on the list, Denmark – like all other EU countries – will individually assess whether it will be possible to open the border for entry from these countries. This assessment will be conducted by a group of representatives from Statens Serum Institut, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark and the Danish Ministry of Justice.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark will ensure the greatest possible consistency between the opening for entry into the EU and the easing of the travel advice for the applicable countries. However, the travel advice will only be eased if the country does not have entry restrictions or quarantine requirements for incoming Danish travellers, and if the general security situation in the country is acceptable. The model for third countries thus builds on the same criteria as the model for travel advice for the EU/Schengen and UK. 

Minister for Foreign Affairs Jeppe Kofod says:

“It is a major, important and positive step towards ‘normal’ travel advice that we now have a common EU list and a new model for travel advice for countries outside of the EU, Schengen and United Kingdom. But there is still a long way to go before we are back to normal. Although we are ready to open in a responsible, gradual and safe manner, many countries are still hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic, have entry restrictions or strict quarantine requirements. Naturally, we must ensure that the Danish travel advice reflects these circumstances. The world is far from open yet, and the COVID-19 pandemic is certainly not over. We must expect the heightened uncertainty regarding international travel to continue for some time to come. Unfortunately, this is an unavoidable condition in an ongoing global health crisis.”

Any changes to the travel advice for countries outside of the EU/Schengen will generally be announced on Thursday at the same time as changes to the travel advice for the EU/Schengen.

Travellers returning to Denmark from approved countries will no longer be advised to quarantine at home for 14 days. If a third country does not appear on the list of open countries, travellers will still be advised to quarantine at home for 14 days upon their return to Denmark.

A normalisation of the travel advice

At present, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark advises against all non-essential travel to more than 160 countries outside of the EU/Schengen due to the global health situation. Until 13 March 2020, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark had individual travel advice for approximately 50 of these countries, which are home to Danish embassies and/or are popular destinations for Danish tourists.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark is now taking a step towards gradual normalisation of the travel advice. This means that individual travel advice will once again be made for the aforementioned 50 countries. If the travel advice for one of these countries can be eased, the risk category will be adjusted from orange to yellow, thereby lifting the advice against all non-essential travel. 

It also means that there will be third countries without any Danish travel advice if there are no longer COVID-19-related reasons to advise against travel in the given country. In these cases, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark will refer to the travel advice issued by other countries. All other third countries whose residents are not permitted entry according to the EU list will remain categorised as “orange” until 31 August.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark press desk: pressevagten@um.dk

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