Germany Looks to Lift Travel Warning, Foreign Minister Says

Germany hopes talks with European Union partners on Monday will make progress toward lifting a global travel warning and enabling citizens to take vacations this summer, according to Foreign Minister Heiko Maas.

Germany has a worldwide travel warning in place through June 14 due to the coronavirus on unnecessary leisure trips abroad. Although they are being scaled back, controls will remain in place on Germany’s borders with France, Austria and Switzerland until June 15, as well as for arrivals by air from Spain and Italy.

Maas said a video call Monday with 10 counterparts from nations including Italy, Spain, Greece, Portugal and Austria will focus on establishing criteria for holidays that would allow Germany to issue guidelines on international travel instead of a warning.

“That will give people a basis on which to make a decision about where they can go and where it would be better not to go,” Maas said in an interview with ZDF television. He cautioned that a “mechanism” is also needed to enable a quick reaction in the event of a resurgence in infections.

The European Commission last week presented recommendations for EU countries as they loosen lockdowns. The proposals cover everything from the removal of internal EU border restrictions to the use of mobile-phone tracing applications.

Germany has said it will base its strategy to revive travel on the commission’s plan and will seek agreements with EU partners based on regional infection rates.“Now it’s about how we organize things so that a vacation feels like a vacation,” Maas said. “But at the same time of course making sure that holiday nations don’t become infection hotspots.”

Bavarian Premier Markus Soeder said Monday that he is less optimistic about cross-border travel in Europe any time soon and that domestic tourism ought to be promoted instead.

“I don’t think like Heiko Maas that it’ll be so easy to put forward plans for us to be in Italy, Spain or France again in a month,” Soeder said at a news conference. “I would advise against taking rash measures. All over Germany there are wonderful places.”