ΒΕLGRADE — The facilitation of the flow of tourists between Greece and Serbia in the coming summer was the main topic of a meeting held on Monday between Greek Tourism Minister Haris Theoharis and his Serbian counterpart Tatjana Matic. They examined all the possibilities, with the safety of visitors and those working in tourism as a guideline, and found that all the problems created by the pandemic can be overcome.

The two sides agreed to act on the basis of EU proposals and to mutually implement three protocols at the entrances into their country so as not to exclude any visitor. As the Greek minister said in a joint press conference, the digital vaccination certificate will be applied for all those that are vaccinated against the coronavirus, and he clarified that Greece will accept all the vaccines used in Serbia, even those that do not have the European Medicines Agency's approval, such as the Russian and Chinese vaccines.

A second track for entrance will be to display a negative PCR test for those that have not been vaccinated, while the two countries will also examine the possibility of accepting antibody tests as well. Finally, there will be the option for tourists to present a document certifying that they had and recovered from COVID-19.

Theoharis said the Greek government will also examine the possibility of opening up its borders with Serbia, probably before Orthodox Easter, as the vaccination programme is progressing rapidly.

He explained that this year, Serb tourists will be able to enter Greece via two border crossings from North Macedonia and three border crossings from Bulgaria.

After the meeting the two tourism ministers signed a joint statement of intent to cooperate and restart tourism.