Netherlands shuts borders for citizens of Serbia, Montenegro
The Netherlands has closed its borders for Serbia and Montenegro citizens just a week after reopening them due to a rise in the number of COVID-19 cases in the two Balkan countries, the Dutch embassy in Serbia and Montenegro said on Wednesday.
“Residents of these two countries cannot enter the Netherlands due to the latest COVID-19 developments. The Netherlands has made this decision for countries where the epidemiological situation is worse than the EU-average,” the embassy said in a Facebook statement.
The Netherlands reopened its borders to citizens of Serbia and Montenegro on July 2, following the advice of the European Union to lift the ban on entry for several countries.
“The list of countries will be reviewed every two weeks, or sooner if health situation in one of these countries deteriorates drastically,” the Dutch embassy said on July 2.
Last month, the European Council decided to gradually lift the coronavirus-related temporary restrictions on non-essential travel of citizens of 14 countries, including Serbia and Montenegro, within the European Union as of July 1.
The number of reported COVID-19 cases in Serbia and Montenegro has been rapidly rising since the beginning of July. As of July 7, the number of active COVID-19 cases stood at 2,942 in Serbia and 570 in Montenegro.