Taiwanese might soon be allowed to visit EU countries for tourism after the bloc included the nation in its safe travel list on Friday.
Taiwan was added to a list of 14 countries for which a ban on non-essential travel, implemented to curb the spread of COVID-19, was recommended to be gradually lifted, the European Council said in a news release.
The list also includes Albania, Australia, Israel, Japan, Lebanon, New Zealand, North Macedonia, Rwanda, Serbia, Singapore, South Korea, Thailand and the US, as well as China, which is subject to confirmation, as the bloc expects Beijing to drop its ban on visits from the EU.
The list would be reviewed every two weeks based a country’s COVID-19 situation, overall pandemic response and reliability of its COVID-19 data, the council said.
Announcing the list on Twitter, the EU also included a Taiwanese flag.
In Taipei, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs welcomed the move, saying that it reflects the EU’s confidence in Taiwan’s pandemic response measures.
The ministry urged Taiwanese to inquire about entry regulations of their destination as the list is not legally binding and each EU member might have its own regulations — for example, whether a negative COVID-19 test result is needed.
Meanwhile, the German Institute Taipei on the same day said that Germany would from today lift COVID-19 travel restrictions for residents of Taiwan who can provide a negative COVID-19 test result, a document showing that they have recovered from the disease or a proof of COVID-19 vaccination.
However, regulations implemented before the pandemic would remain in place, the representative office said on Facebook.
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