Covid-19: Bulgaria eases travel restrictions on Britons, but UK still on ‘red list’
Bulgaria’s caretaker Health Minister Stoicho Katsarov issued on October 8 an order amending the list of foreign countries classified respectively as red, orange or green zones according to their Covid-19 situations, which also eased travel restrictions on British nationals entering the country.
The order allows British nationals to enter Bulgaria even if they travel from a country labelled as a ‘red zone’, if that country is in the EU, the European Economic Area, Switzerland or UK. Previously, that list did not include the UK or British nationals.
The other rules on travel from red zone countries still apply – namely, the requirement that the person has either a vaccination certificate or a certificate that they recovered from Covid-19, alongside a negative result from a PCR test taken no more than 72 hours prior to entering Bulgaria.
In the latest order, five countries were moved to the ‘green zone’: France, Monaco, Portugal, Cyprus and Iceland. Eight countries are moved to the ‘orange zone’: the United States, Ireland, North Macedonia, Kosovo, Malaysia, Iran, Kazakhstan and Eswatini.
Both of those changes take effect on October 10.
Effective October 13, the following countries are moved to the ‘red zone’ list of countries: Romania, Slovenia, Estonia, Latvia, Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados and Singapore.
The Bulgarian Health Ministry’s current criteria for classifying a country as a Covid-19 red, orange or green zone may be found in English here (that older order’s list of countries is now out of date). These classifications determine the rules for entry to Bulgaria.
The same order establishes a list of countries whose Covid-19 vaccination, testing and disease certificates are considered equivalent to the EU Digital Covid certificate. The list includes North Macedonia, San Marino, Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine, and Vatican City State (only in respect of issued vaccination certificates).
The full list of green zone countries is Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, Finland, Vatican City State, the Czech Republic, Luxembourg, Denmark, Italy, Spain, Malta, Sweden, France, Monaco, Portugal, Cyprus and Iceland.
Countries listed neither as red or green zones are regarded as orange zones.
Red zone countries are India, Bangladesh, Nepal, Myanmar (Burma), Bhutan, Sri Lanka, Maldives, South Africa, Botswana, Tanzania, Seychelles, Namibia, Zambia, Oman, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, Mongolia, Colombia, Chile, Uruguay, Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, Bolivia, Peru, Suriname, Panama, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Belize, El Salvador, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Fiji, Saint Lucia, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Grenada, Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Palestinian Authority territory, Singapore, the United Kingdom, Georgia, Montenegro, Serbia, Slovenia, Romania, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.
(Sofia Airport. Photo: Apostoloff)
For the rest of The Sofia Globe’s continuing coverage of the Covid-19 situation in Bulgaria, please click here.
The Sofia Globe’s coverage of the Covid-19 situation in Bulgaria is supported by the Embassies of Switzerland and Finland.
Please support independent journalism by clicking on the orange button below. For as little as three euro a month or the equivalent in other currencies, you can support The Sofia Globe via patreon.com and get access to exclusive subscriber-only content:
