Although the European Union had proposed opening the borders to all Western Balkan countries, the decision does not appear to include Albania.
Euronews Albania correspondent in Brussels, Ernest Bunguri, explained in a direct link the admission procedure that the EU is implementing after Friday's agreement. According to this agreement, for the last two weeks Albania must have less than 13 new cases with COVID-19 for every 100 thousand inhabitants, in order to open the borders. Albania's average is now 30.
"There has long been talk of a green list of countries that could travel to the EU from July 1," he said. The EU proposed on June 11 to compile a list of countries that do not pose a risk to the number of infections. The main criterion, set in Friday's agreement, is no longer 16 new cases within two weeks per 100,000 inhabitants, but the EU average, which is even lower, 13. Albania has more than 30 cases new per 100,000 inhabitants, that is, twice the number required by the EU. ? He said.
He added :
"But this is not the only criterion, because Serbia and Montenegro have passed this target, counting 19, 20 new cases per 100 thousand inhabitants, respectively. There are other criteria that are calculated, such as safeguards, the number of tests and tracks, and other measures to see the spread of the disease. It is also part of the social and economic criterion. This was used for the Western Balkans. From the agreement reached on Friday evening by the ambassadors, Albania, Kosovo and Northern Macedonia are no longer on the list. There were some lists, some places were discussed. "
It is worth noting that the borders can also be opened through agreements between states with each other, such as the case of Greece .
