Nigeria has been excluded from list of countries that qualify to travel into Europe ahead of the reopening its borders to international travelers on July 1, 2020.
According to the list released by the EU, only 54 countries qualify for travels into Europe, of which citizens from Nigeria, Brazil, Qatar, the US, and Russia are excluded from.
This, according to Schengenvisainfo.com, is due to the COVID-19 situation in the countries exempted from the list.
The European Union Commission fixed July 1 to reopen its borders after months of closure to contain the spread of COVID-19.
Countries allowed to gain entry into Europe are Albania, Algeria, Andorra, Angola, Australia, Bahamas, Bhutan, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Canada.
Others listed are China, Costa Rica, Cuba, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Dominica, Egypt, Ethiopia, Georgia, Guyana, India, Indonesia, Jamaica, Japan, Kazakhstan, Kosovo, Lebanon and Mauritius.
More countries include Monaco, Mongolia, Montenegro, Morocco, Mozambique, Myanmar, Namibia, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Palau, Paraguay, Rwanda, Saint Lucia, Serbia, South Korea, Tajikistan, Thailand, Tunisia, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Uganda, Ukraine, Uruguay, Uzbekistan, Vatican City, Venezuela, Vietnam and Zambia.
EU Commission spokesman, Eric Mamer, said the union has the right to choose who would enter its borders.
He added that;
The European Union has an internal process to determine from which countries it would be safe to accept travelers and selection was based on health criteria.
The commission also revealed that some countries will be considered to enter Europe at a later date when the COVID-19 epidemiological situation in these countries improves.
The countries include Brazil, Qatar, the US and Russia.
On June 11, the commission presented its recommendation on the reopening of internal Schengen borders on June 15, so Europeans could travel within the borderless area freely, just as they did pre-pandemic.
As at Monday, Nigeria recorded 25,133 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 573 deaths.
