Estonia Plans to Restore ‘Baltic Bubble’ Travel Zone
The “Baltic Bubble” may be restored for travel by the summer season as Estonia’s Foreign Minister Eva-Maria Liimets has announced that her country plans to discuss such possibilities in order to facilitate travel with the other two Baltic countries, Lithuania and Latvia.
On May 15 last year, Estonia, Lithuania, and Latvia created a “mini-Schengen Area” by opening their common borders and permit their citizens to move between these three countries freely, AtoZSerwisPlus.com reports.
However, the bubble lasted only a few months, and it was not welcomed by some European countries. Such a move was also criticized by the European Commission.
Estonian Foreign Minister urged the country’s government on Wednesday to start negotiations in this regard with authorities in Lithuania and Latvia.
“It is not yet at the right level to fully open up societies, but the time is right to start preparations and discuss how this would be possible,” Liimets pointed out, adding that the discussions could start next week.
Currently, infection rates in three Baltic countries are similar, with the two-week morbidity rate per 100,000 of population standing at 422 in Estonia, 545 in Lithuania, and 419 in Latvia.
Last year the Vice President of the European Commission, Margaritis Schinas, criticized the idea of creating “mini-Schengen Zones” within the European Commission, initiated to ease the travel process between countries.
Vice President Schinas, in this regard, stressed that there is no way a smaller Schengen can replace the current Schengen Zone.
“I’m going to give you an example about borders. In no way will the intention to return to our usual Schengen, removing the current restrictions on our internal borders, be replaced by a kind of regional mini Schengens that fragment our single market and discriminate against non-participating member states. This is not possible,” he stressed.
Such moves were taken within some other Member States as well. Three Central European countries, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, and Austria, also discussed opening their common borders to facilitate the travel process.
According to the figures published by Wordometers, more than 121,650 persons have tested positive for the virus in Estonia, up to this point, while 1,158 persons have died. Latvia has recorded 117,795 confirmed cases, and 2,125 deaths, while Lithuania has reported 245,896 COVID-19 cases and 3,916 deaths.