TIRANA, June 10 /ATA/ EU Commissioner for Neighborhood and Enlargement, Oliver Varhelyi, pointed out that no one should see the opening of borders as a political or diplomatic move, but as one related to public health.
At the joint press conference with Prime Minister Edi Rama, after the Summit of the Western Balkans leaders, which took place in Tirana, Commissioner Varhelyi said, “as you know, the Commission has made a recommendation to member states, as the decision on non-essential travel, as we call those from the third countries, which means those for purposes of tourism, are within the competence and responsibility of member countries. So far it is up to the member states to look at the conditions under which they are ready to lift the restrictions already in place.”
“It all depends on the epidemiological situation in the region or different countries, we see that this situation in the Western Balkans has improved, there are also bilateral agreements on mutual recognition of COVID-19 certificates. With this type of EU certificate, this process will be accelerated, while we in the EU reach a high level of vaccination minimizing the risks in terms of people coming from your countries, we will also explore the possibility of loosening the restrictions on travel, ” – underlined Varhelyi.
All of us, the Commissioner added, have suffered from this and I do not believe it is pleasant for anyone, but it all depends on the situation of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“ Once the summer season kicks off at the beginning of July, this issue will be part of our common history,” – Varhelyi said.
Prime Minister Rama said that in our yard we are better than European countries in terms of health situation.
“The beam where we have fastened the threads is the European Union. We continue weaving on our loom frame little by little, the strands are tied but a lot remains to be done. No matter what those at the beam do, if we get things rights in terms of standards, values, principles and if the system is up and running, it is done. But it hinges on us. Believe that we are on the right path and on this path we are lucky because what has changed in our history over the centuries before the founding of the EU and the period after the EU was founded, is precisely the European Union that has given us the opportunity to have the beam where to fasten the straps, ” said Rama.
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