Doug Gibson is a government civil service worker in Utah. He and his family had planned a monthlong visit to their condo in Kaposvar, Hungary, this July but could not enter the European Union due to the COVID-19-inspired travel ban.
Gibson isn’t sure when they’ll go back. “We considered Christmas break, but the prohibitions are still in place,” he told the Washington Examiner. He anticipates next year as “hopefully” being when he’ll be able to return, but even then isn’t sure it will happen.
It may “be a few to several years now before we can return,” Gibson said. After much delay, they got the money back for airfare. They then spent that substantial sum on “renovations, a new roof, new driveway,” and other significant expenses at their Utah residence.
“Back in March, the European Commission introduced travel restrictions that lasted until this summer until the Union authorized a list of 14 countries that were exempt. The Commission continues to periodically update this list,” Caroline Rose, Middle East and Europe analyst for the forecasting firm Geopolitical Futures, told the Washington Examiner.
The latest update on the EU’s Re-open EU website added Australia, Canada, Georgia, Japan, New Zealand, Rwanda, South Korea, Thailand, Tunisia, Uruguay, and even China (“subject to confirmation of reciprocity”) to the list of nations in which its citizens are allowed to visit EU countries.
“So far, the U.S. has been excluded,” Rose said. And while the list of excluded and allowed nations is not technically “legally binding” on individual EU nations, “Brussels has applied a lot of political pressure for its members not to act independently of the travel ban and welcome unlisted nationals.” She doesn’t see most EU countries “giving U.S. nationals the greenlight anytime soon.”
One reason for that hesitation is the flu season, which is likely to be a new COVID-19 season. “EU policymakers are already preparing for a second wave come October-November,” Rose explained. Rates of coronavirus infection in America continue to be high enough to raise real concerns.
Gary Leff, the author of the influential View From the Wing website, is skeptical of that explanation. He pointed out that the flu season “was exceptionally mild in the Southern Hemisphere” this year and added, “With the high caseload here in the U.S. and likely retained immunity, any ‘next wave’ in places that have already been hit with the spread [of COVID-19] shouldn’t be as bad as the first one.”
Instead, the “international perception of Americans seems to be that we’re irresponsible. There’s moral judgment over the course of the virus, and that plays into the politics on the European side,” Leff told the Washington Examiner.
He also believes that “since the U.S. wouldn’t let in Europeans, even at the nadir of its caseload, there’s a tit-for-tat element as well.”
Both Rose and Leff point out that there are ways around the ban for those determined.
“Since July, we saw a number of EU members break from the travel list, most of them southern Mediterranean economies that are far more dependent on the tourism revenues,” Rose explained.
“It is still possible to visit Europe! The U.K. has a quarantine requirement, not a ban, and there’s talk of relaxing the 14-day quarantine, at least for some Americans. Americans can enter Croatia with a negative PCR test. Serbia is open!” Leff said.
“And, of course, there are plenty of places besides Europe to go,” he added.
