1 July 2020 12:00 am
The Ministry of Foreign Relations said yesterday the European Commission has informed Sri Lanka that it had not yet considered opening the region to countries that have not opened airports nor accepted visitors from the EU region.
In a statement, the Ministry said it noted the decision of the EU to reopen its external borders on July 1, 2020 initially to a list of less than 15 countries that did not include Sri Lanka.
“The Embassy of Sri Lanka accredited to the European Union in Brussels which has been actively lobbying for Sri Lanka’s inclusion in the list was informed by the European Commission that it has not yet considered countries that have not opened airports nor accepted visitors from the EU region.
The Embassy was further informed that the list will be progressively expanded depending on the progress made in the epidemiological situation in countries, the ability to apply containment measures during travel and whether or not that country has lifted travel restrictions towards the EU countries,” it said.