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By:
PATRICK VIDIJA | |||||||||
| Posted:
Jul,01-2020 00:27:41
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| Kenyans wishing to travel to the European Union will have to wait longer after Europe opens its external borders later this week. Kenya has not been listed among countries whose citizens can be given Schengen visas in the interim. This is after the European Union countries failed to agree on a common list of the countries that would be banned from entering the block upon the border reopening. According to Reuters, countries like the United States, Brazil and Russia have also been excluded from the list. Only Uganda and Rwanda have been listed among the East African Countries. Reuters reported that ambassadors from the 27 EU members convened from Friday afternoon to establish criteria for granting quarantine-free access from next Wednesday. "A redrawn text of 10-20 countries was put to them, but many said they needed to consult first with their governments, diplomats said," an article said. According to the article, discussions continued overnight, with the EU countries giving informal replies by Saturday evening. So far in a draft list published, citizens of 54 world countries will benefit from the reopening of the European Union external borders. It is said the countries however managed to create a list of the countries with a better epidemiological situation, the citizens of which will be able to enter Europe by the end of next week. Countries that have been barred will only be able to enter the bloc at a later date when the epidemiological situation in these countries improves. Albania, Algeria, Andorra, Angola, Australia, Bahamas, Bhutan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Canada, China, Costa Rica, Cuba, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Dominica, Egypt, Ethiopia, Georgia, Guyana, India, Indonesia, Jamaica, Japan, Kazakhstan and Kosovo are those that have been granted access. Others are Lebanon, Mauritius, Monaco, Mongolia, Montenegro, Morocco, Mozambique, Myanmar, Namibia, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Palau, Paraguay, Rwanda, Saint Lucia, Serbia, South Korea, Tajikistan, Thailand, Tunisia, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Uganda, Ukraine, Uruguay, Uzbekistan, Vatican City, Venezuela, Vietnam and Zambia. EU Commission spokesman Eric Mamer last week said the Union has an internal process to determine from which countries it would be safe to accept travelers. On June 11, the Commission presented its recommendation on the reopening of internal borders on June 15, so that Europeans can travel within the borderless area freely, just as they did pre-pandemic. At the same time, the Commission recommended that the Member States should start allowing third-country nationals to enter the EU starting from July 1,gradually and partially, based on the epidemiological situation in each third-country. Kenya has reported 6,190 Covid-19 cases after 120 more tested positive in the last 24 hours. The new cases emerged from 2,221 samples that were tested in the last 24 hours, Health CAS Rashid Aman said.From the new cases, the youngest is six years old while the oldest 83 years. However, one more patient has succumbed, raising fatalities to 144. | |||||||||
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Source:
The Star
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