How Ukrainian tourists are checked by customs – its own and European

The example of Ukrainian tourists clearly shows how Europe greets third-country nationals and how strictly it monitors the implementation of the conditions and restrictions on coronavirus imposed by the states.

Some European countries are already open for tourists from Ukraine, however, mainly for vaccinated people who have an international covid certificate (issued through the Diya mobile application) or in the presence of negative tests.

Reference: Diya is a Ukrainian electronic service of public services, developed by the Ministry of Digital Transformation of Ukraine. It is a digital documents mobile application and a public service portal.

In practice, upon arrival in some countries they require a certificate and pay strict attention to the drug that was inoculated, in others they only check the passport: “The vaccination certificate has not even been looked at.”

The information about vaccines recognized in the European Union is the most controversial. At first, only Pfizer was recognized, ignoring even the approved AstraZeneca due to the fact that it was not produced in the EU. However, today the Indian Covishield, the South Korean AstraZeneca and even the Chinese Coronovac are recognized – although the latter is not in all countries. So the list of vaccines recognized in a particular state is worth looking at in the list of conditions for the entry of foreigners into the country where you are going to go. In particular, the Indian Covishield suits Germany, Austria, Greece, Slovenia, Ireland, Estonia and Spain.

In some countries, such as Cyprus and Greece, it is enough to present a negative test for coronavirus, in others, neither the certificate nor the test is checked. True, when leaving Ukraine, such “liberties” should not even be dreamed of. In general, according to the stories of Ukrainian travelers, “as lucky as anyone.” The Strana.ua edition talked with tourists who had time to relax abroad about the nuances of border crossing in different countries.

Greece was the first in this tourist season, back in May, to open for Ukrainians. Oksana Yarema from Lvov went to Rhodes in June and says:

“We watched the test at registration and at passport control in Greece. And recently, the Greeks made it easier to enter – they are allowed to use an express test, made 48 hours before the trip. In July, my daughter flies on an express test to rest in Greece.”

Germany requires confirmation of vaccination, with only drugs recognized in Europe: Pfizer / BioNTech, Moderna, AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson. However, Vladislav Luchansky, who recently visited Hamburg, claims that no one is particularly interested in the name of the vaccine:

“At the border control, they glanced at the certificate, and that was all. They did not read it like a vaccine. I have AstraZeneca. It is very likely that there is someone who is lucky.”

If someone did not have time to delve into the nuances, we recall: only recently it turned out that AstraZeneca can be different. In the EU, they start up with AstraZeneca made in Europe (trademark Vaxzevria). And the Ukrainians were inoculated with either the South Korean Vaxzevria or the Indian Сovieshild (a trademark of AstraZeneca, produced in India). The latter was received by more than half a million citizens of Ukraine. Although Germany just recognizes this variant of the drug.

In Spain, Ukrainians can theoretically enter both without tests and without a certificate – the vast majority of travelers only checked their passports. In France, only a negative coronavirus test is asked. It was to this country that Yana Slesarchuk, a TSN journalist, went to see in practice that Ukrainians could get here on vacation.

The journalist had on her hands a paper confirmation (with wet seals) of the vaccination carried out with AstraZeneca. Just in case, Yana insured herself by doing a PCR test and receiving a negative result. There are already Ukrainian covid certificates, but in order for them to become effective, an EU decision on compliance with the standards and their recognition by the European Union is necessary. However, as tourists say, they are allowed into almost all countries with both paper and digital versions.

At the Ukrainian airport, a customs officer reassured the journalist: “They will let me in. It’s AstraZeneca, no matter if it’s Indian. ” In fact, it turned out to be even easier – in France they glanced at the test, but they did not even demanded a certificate, says Slesarchuk:

“The customs officer asked the test (did not even look at it) and immediately put a stamp, ignoring my strong desire to feed him with a certificate. He even didn’t look at my completed piece of paper with a promise that no one was talking to me. Apparently it is assumed that if they missed it from Kiev, the reason is quite important, and everything should be ok. In general, you can take risks. “

And Ukrainian Olga Petriv confirms:

“I also made sure that if Kiev passes (and here they strictly check documents before issuing a boarding pass), then in the country you are traveling to, no one will ask anything. I had this two weeks ago with Spain. The Spaniards do not they asked nothing at all – in a second a stamp in the passport. “

Ten days ago, on July 1, Spain announced that it would accept national third-country certificates for vaccines recommended by WHO. In practice, this means that the path to Spain is open for Ukrainian citizens. They can enter with a certificate of vaccination with drugs from PfizerBiontech, Astra Zeneca, CoronaVac.

However, each European country has the right to establish its own rules. For example, in Britain or Sweden, where entry is still closed for Ukrainian tourists, there is a special “covid control” that decides where to send a tourist – to quarantine, to a hotel or “to freedom” (with two vaccinations). And Germany recently introduced new restrictions even for fully vaccinated tourists from Portugal. Therefore, before going on a trip abroad, you should familiarize yourself with the current information (on the website of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs or the EU) and with the rules for entering a particular country.

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