EU drops US from list of COVID-safe countries for travel

BRUSSELS - European Union governments agreed on Monday to remove the United States from the EU's safe travel list, meaning U.S. visitors and those from five other countries are likely to face tighter controls, such as COVID-19 tests and quarantines.

Kosovo, Lebanon, Montenegro, and North Macedonia have also been taken off. The list seeks to unify travel rules across the bloc, although it does not bind individual EU nations, which are free to determine their own border policies. Already some EU countries, such as Germany and Belgium, categorise the United States as red, requiring tests and quarantines, while for neighbours France and the Netherlands, the United States is classified as safe.