Sweden bans travelers from Bosnia and Moldova, allows entry from 3 other third countries
Citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as those from Moldova, will be banned from entering Sweden, unless there are urgent cases, as the latter has excluded these areas from its COVID-19 exception list, the Swedish government has confirmed.
At the same time, authorities in Sweden have announced that Chile, Kuwait and Rwanda will be added to the list, which means that travelers from these territories who plan to enter Sweden will be covered by the exemption from the new entry rules, reports SchengenVisaInfo.com.
According to the Swedish government, such a decision will be implemented on 4 October and will be valid until 31 October 2021.
Since the start of the pandemic, Sweden has reported a total of 1,152,027 cases of COVID-19 infection and a total of 14,856 deaths, based on the figures published by the World Health Organization (WHO). In addition, the same source shows that 854 people have tested positive for the virus in the last 24 hours.
Due to such figures, the Swedish authorities took many preventive measures, including entry bans and other restrictions since the pandemic began, to stop the further spread of the virus.
On 19 March 2020, the Swedish government introduced an entry ban for travelers from other countries that was originally to be kept in place for only 30 days. However, due to the COVID-19 situation in Sweden and other countries, the government extended such measures several times.
However, the entry ban does not apply to all travelers, as certain specific categories will be exempted following the latest recommendation from the Council of the European Union to the Member States.
“The entry ban means that a foreign citizen who departs from a state other than an EEA state or Switzerland who travels to Sweden will be denied entry to Sweden and rejected. However, there are a number of exceptions to the ban. Nevertheless, travelers are normally required to present a negative COVID-19 test result even if they are covered by one of the exceptions. “ the statement published by the country’s government.
International citizens planning to travel to Sweden from Bosnia and Herzegovina and Moldova from 4 October will be allowed to enter Sweden only if they fall into an exceptional category. The exceptions include international citizens who have a Swedish residence permit, people who need to enter Sweden due to emergencies and those who can present a negative result of the Coronavirus test.
In the case of international passengers traveling to Sweden from Chile, Kuwait and Rwanda, those who can show valid proof of residence permit in one of these countries and a negative result of the COVID-19 test, they will also be exempted from the entry ban.
Authorities in Sweden recently announced that they will recognize COVID-19 vaccination passes for travelers from Andorra, Albania, the Faroe Islands, Morocco, Israel and Panama.