BRUSSELS: The European Union (EU) yesterday 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 in a press release said following a review under the recommendation on the gradual lifting of the temporary restrictions on non-essential travel into the EU, it updated the list of countries for which travel restrictions should be lifted.

In particular, Chile, Kuwait and Rwanda were added to the list and Bosnia and Herzegovina and Moldova were removed, it said. Based on the criteria and conditions set out in the recommendation, as from Sept 23, 2021, member states should gradually lift travel restrictions at the external borders for residents of the following non-EU countries: Australia, Canada, Chile (new), Jordan, Kuwait (new), New Zealand, Qatar, Rwanda (new), Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Korea, Ukraine, Uruguay and China, subject to confirmation of reciprocity.

The criteria to determine countries for which the current travel restrictions should be lifted were updated on May 20, 2021. They cover the epidemiological situation and overall response to COVID-19, as well as the reliability of the available information and data sources, it said. The EU Council of Ministers updates the safe travel list based on criteria relating to coronavirus infection levels every two weeks. - KUNA