Commission Recommends Opening of Borders to WB Starting from 1 July

The European Commission has recommended for EU members to approve opening of borders to Western Balkans (WB) starting from 1 July, considering the region’s good epidemiological situation. “Today the Commission recommends to Schengen Member States and Schengen Associated States to lift internal border controls by 15 June 2020 and to prolong the temporary restriction on non-essential travel into the EU until 30 June 2020; and sets out an approach to progressively lifting the restriction afterwards. Given that the health situation in certain third countries remains critical, the Commission does not propose a general lifting of the travel restriction at this stage,the Commission said on Thursday. However, the decision concerning third countries doesn’t apply to the WB.