The European Union might lift travel restrictions for citizens of Armenia. As reported the diplomatic source of RFE/RL in the European Council, the EU Presidency has offered to include Armenia in the list of countries, the citizens of which can visit the Schengen area for tourism, as well as Switzerland, Norway, Iceland and Lichtenstein.

The issue is expected to be considered and put up for a vote during the session of EU ambassadors. Nevertheless, it’s up to the discretion of the EU member states to implement the recommendation.

For instance, when the European Council included Georgia in the list of ‘safe’ countries in July 2020, several European countries decided to open their borders for citizens of Georgia, but the Czech Republic didn’t observe the recommendation, taking into consideration the anti-epidemic situation in the country.

At this moment, 15 states and regions are in the ‘green zone’ of the EU, including the US, Israel, South Korea and Singapore. The list is updated once every two weeks.

According to diplomatic sources, the EU Presidency recommends adding another ten countries to the list, including Armenia, Azerbaijan, Moldova and Kosovo where, according to European experts, the anti-epidemic situation has improved. If the proposal is approved by EU ambassadors and is then approved by EU member states, citizens of Armenia will only have to submit a negative coronavirus test result to cross the border or verify that they have gotten vaccinated against the pandemic with a vaccine registered in the territory of the EU.