Bulgaria to allow entry of citizens from EU, Schengen countries

Bulgaria, which has started to ease its lockdown, has scrapped a ban on the entry of visitors from the European Union and Schengen visa zone countries, the health ministry said in a statement late on Thursday.

In mid-March European Union member Bulgaria banned entry to its territory to travellers from many countries in an attempt to contain the spread of the novel coronavirus.

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The health ministry said that the lifting of the ban also covers San Marino, Andorra, Monaco and Vatican City.

The ministry said that people arriving in Bulgaria would continue to spend 14 days in quarantine.

People, wearing protective masks walk past Greenpeace activists during a demonstration in Sofia, Bulgaria. File/Reuters

But the 14-day period will no longer apply to Bulgarian citizens and citizens of other EU countries who are travelling for humanitarian reasons and those who are "representatives of the trade, economic and investment activities".

The quarantine will also not apply to people directly related to construction, maintenance, operations, and ensuring the safety of the strategic and critical infrastructure of Bulgaria, the ministry said.

On Tuesday, Bulgaria said it had agreed with neighbouring Greece and Serbia to ease some travel restrictions imposed to curb the spread of the coronavirus from June 1.

The tourism-dependent Black Sea state began to ease its lockdown as the number of new infections has decreased. As of Thursday, Bulgaria had 2,331 confirmed coronavirus cases and 120 deaths, a relatively low number in Europe.

Reuters