Many EU countries begin to reopen borders

As European countries emerge from their coronavirus lockdowns and lift travel restrictions to revive their tourist industries, the EU aims to coordinate the border opening among its 27 members, Report says, citing foreign press.

The bloc has recommended that the member states fully reopen their frontiers with each other on June 15, and many countries are planning to relax controls on that date.

Italy, which has been among the world's hardest hit by the new coronavirus pandemic, reopened its borders on June 3, removing all restrictions on travelers from within Europe. Bulgaria, Croatia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Slovakia, and Slovenia have also already begun to lift restrictions for foreigners entering their countries but excluded those from nations they deem as not safe -- in many cases that list includes Sweden and the UK.

Poland has reopened its borders to all fellow EU members and the UK from June 13. Sweden meanwhile never closed its borders to EU countries. In line with the EU's plans to reopen borders in the bloc by mid-June, Belgium, France, and Greece are lifting restrictions on Monday for travel within Europe. Austria, which has already opened its borders to most of its neighbors, will on June 16 lift travel restrictions with a total of 31 countries -- but has excluded Portugal, Spain, Sweden, and the United Kingdom. The Czech Republic is also allowing free travel with several European countries from Monday. However, restrictions are still in place with those deemed a risk due to their levels of coronavirus infections.

Notably, confirmed coronavirus cases had exceeded 8 million globally.