Hungary to tighten border controls from today
Hungary will introduce international travel restrictions and tighten its border controls from today, as an effort to prevent a new wave of the Coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19), the head of the Prime Minister’s Office, Gergely Gulyás has announced.
Gulyás has stressed that Hungary must prevent the virus from being imported from abroad, clarifying that there will not be any additional restrictive rules within the country, reports SchengenVisaInfo.com.
“Hungary is today among the safest countries in Europe. But given new outbreaks around the world, the government is putting the health and safety of Hungarians foremost and is doing everything possible to prevent the virus’ return,”the head of the Prime Minister’s Office pointed out.
Gulyás has announced that the government has been advised to classify countries into “red”, “yellow” and “green”, based on the current epidemiological situation.
Countries such as Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Belarus, Kosovo, North Macedonia, Montenegro and Ukraine, as well as some Asian countries, are considered “highly risked” by Hungary and belong to the “red” list. Internationals from the “red” category who do not have a permanent resident in Hungary may not enter the country.
The yellow category includes the European Union Member States such as Portugal, Romania, Bulgaria, Sweden, Russia, Serbia, the United Kingdom, the United States and China. Persons who wish to travel to Hungary from any of these countries will be required to go through two weeks of mandatory quarantine. Persons who test negative will be exempted from the quarantine.
Other European countries, including Croatia, belong to the green category, for now. However, they also will be checked upon their entry.
Hungarian nationals from yellow and red category countries who do not have a negative COVID-19 test must undergo health controls at the border.
Citizens coming from the yellow sign must undergo a medical examination upon entering the territory if the infection is established, they will not be permitted to enter Hungary. Internationals who are not suspected for a possible infection must undertake a two weeks compulsory home quarantine.
From Wednesday, non-Hungarian citizens arriving from abroad will be permitted to enter Hungary without any imposed restrictions, from the territory of a country marked with a green sign.
“The better we are able to protect our borders and restrict entry to the country, the better we can uphold the conditions for a safe and free life in Hungary,” the minister said.