BERLIN, June 10 (Xinhua) -- Germany extended its travel warning till Aug. 31 for all countries except the member states of the European Union (EU), Schengen-associated states and Britain, the Federal Foreign Office announced on Wednesday.
Last week, the German Foreign Office announced that travel warnings for European countries would be lifted by June 15 and would be replaced by individual travel advices. For Spain and Norway, this would apply at a later date as entry restrictions still applied there.
The Foreign Office stressed that there was no shared criteria and coordination processes between Germany and third countries -- those outside the EU or the Schengen zone -- that would enable "unrestricted travel without incalculable risks."
In the course of the COVID-19 pandemic, the German government had returned more than 200,000 German tourists and travelers with chartered planes from around 60 countries all over the world.
"We cannot and will not risk that Germans will again be stranded all over the world in the summer or that holiday returnees will carry the virus to Germany undetected," said Foreign Minister Heiko Maas.
At the same time, Maas was "very aware" that many German citizens liked to travel outside Europe to countries such as Turkey or those in North Africa "as soon as possible". When tourism to these parts of the world would be possible again would depend on how the pandemic develops.
A lifting of individual travel warnings was generally possible but would require a positive pandemic development, a stable health care system, consistent security measures for tourists as well as reliable travel options, the Foreign Office noted.
A lifting of travel warnings had to fit into the "overall picture," according to the Foreign Office. As long as there are entry bans by third countries for Europe due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it would not be possible to arrange for thousands of European tourists to travel to those countries. Enditem
