Passports

Turkey has activated a "vaccine ID card" through the Hayat Eve Sığar (HES) system, an online application keeping track of COVID-19 contacts, as vaccine passports are expected to be put into practice when traveling to European Union countries.

Turkey and Hungary will recognize each other's COVID-19 vaccine certificates for safe travel, Hungary's foreign minister said on May 10.

Peter Szijjarto said the agreement between the two countries will be effective starting Tuesday.

Bulgaria will join on Friday the European testing of the digital green certificate system, which the EU is preparing to introduce in the summer to facilitate travel in Europe. 18 European countries and Iceland, which is a member of EEA, will conduct tests of the system for connection to the common server in the next two weeks, as the "Bulgarian day" is on May 14.

Long lines of vehicles and chaos at the Kulata border checkpoint on the day when thousands of Bulgarians returned from Greece after the Easter holidays. Those who did not have vaccination certificates or had expired the 72-hour period of their PCR test. Had to wait for hours.

Ljubljana – Slovenia and Hungary have agreed to mutually recognise their respective Covid-19 vaccination certificates, the Slovenian Ministry has announced. A vaccination certificate issued in one country will have the same legal effect as the one issued in another, in line with the internal national legal orders.

Greek authorities have extended all existing restrictions on entry into the country until 6 am on May 14, 2021, the Bulgarian Embassy in Athens said, quoted by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Lawmakers adopted on Thursday the EP's negotiating position on the proposal for a certificate to reaffirm the right to free movement in Europe during the coronavirus pandemic.

Renaming the proposed by the Commission 'Digital Green Certificate', MEPs agreed that the new "EU COVID-19 certificate" should be in place for 12 months and not longer.

Still, it is not so easy to enter Greece. "This morning, we arrived first at the border crossing, around 6 in the morning," it was reported by TV Prva.

The year 2021 for sure has not been the best in terms of traveling, however the ranking of world's most powerful passports was published again, it is the original, authoritative ranking of all the world's passports according to the number of destinations their holders can access without a prior visa.

Ljubljana – The EU member states have reached an agreement at the ambassadorial level on a joint position on Covid certificates, with Slovenia emphasising that such a certificate must not lead to additional restrictions and that it must be available to all citizens.