Carpacchio

True - everyone can enter, but everyone needs to do a test, wait on the result and then quarantine.
Hence the question is who can come without that in the future...

Romanianflyer

As Carpacchio already noted, it is "opening up" in a practical way.

Yes, EU + wider Schengen/EEA tourists were already welcome in Greece as you state, but they were subject to a 14-day quarantine upon arrival at ATH. "Opening the border" for tourists from 29 countries just means that practically they can indeed go on a holiday without being locked up in an quarantine institute first. Some of the countries which are not part of the 29 countries (eg. Belgium, Netherlands, France, UK) can still travel to Greece but would still face quarantine under the current rules. Therefore the question is still open: how does Greece implement the new rules? By residence? Nationality? Flight origin? What about potential loopholes? Can a French citizen travel from Switzerland? Is an Australian living in the UK welcome?

Fwiw I tried to call some ministry spokespersons, but given it was already after 6pm local time I guess all have already left for the weekend. I will try again tomorrow to get a more clear answer, but I think I will only be able to manage to get hold of someone on Monday later in the day for further details. We are still talking about Greek government workers here

the188

I think most of the people on this site are interested in visiting Greece (and countries in general) for reasons other then to sit for 14 days in quarantine. I'm a US citizen but I have family in Europe, sure I can get in based on the rules even now, but I have no interest in spending my vacation stuck in an Athens hotel for 2 weeks.

My flight is scheduled to arrive July 3rd. Because my flight connects through Germany, would the origin then be Germany? There are now no direct flights from the USA to Greece anymore (my direct flight on UA was switched to a connection in FRA).

The wording about July 1st is also ambiguous. Does it mean they will in the next few weeks add new countries and those will be allowed entry on July 1st (in which case there is still some hope left), or new countries won't be announced until July 1st (in which case it is highly unlikely I will be able to go).

I would be very interested to hear what you find out Romanianflyer.

GUWonder

Maybe those who try to enter Greece via the Greece-whitelisted EU/EEA countries may be subject to a 14 day quarantine on arrival in Greece if they are found to be from EU/EEA or other countries that aren’t whitelisted by Greece. Some other EU/EEA countries are considering doing this very kind of thing for EU/EEA arrivals, and Greece trying to limit international arrivals to ATH or to be via ATH may facilitate such an approach if Greece were to go that way.

justforfun

Why does it matter what your nationality/citizenship is? What should matter is if you've been in a "high risk" country within the past 14 days. That's really the spirit of the directive, I would hope.

WilcoRoger

Yes, the text seems to have been updated - maybe the Greek gov't & journos read FT

WilcoRoger

API shows nationality

Arrivals

Hi the188,

The US embassy is actually one of the better sources and updated frequently. You may check there regularly. Link

KATERGOO

" Bans refer to the traveler’s flight origin point, not the traveler’s nationality."

The US embassy website says the same thing as Kathimerini !
That might be good news.

GUWonder

That was a statement made in consideration also of US citizens with residency in Greece or other EU/EEA countries. How things play out from July 1st for other US citizens originating a trip in the US or Canada and connecting via a white-listed country is still to be determined. But even now the Schengen bans at the EU level and at the national level have some exceptions regardless of nationality/citizenship.

tiger302

Please have a look at the CAA NOTAM's (feel free to use https://translate.google.com).

18.05 NOTAM
Basically says that the quarantine measures are extended until 31st of May 2020 23:59

29.05 NOTAM
SKG is being added as a destination for intl arrivals from 15th of June onwards besides ATH, valid until end of June. Flights to/from 4 more countries: Italy, Spain, UK and the Netherlands are banned until end of 14th of June.

Given that there are for example daily flights from Germany to Athens, does the above information mean that (as of today if things remain unchanged), there will not be a quarantine for arrivals into Athens for Germans from Germany starting from Monday?

We need a guinea pig, anyone scheduled to fly into Greece from Monday on?

the188

I have been updating it multiple times a day. It stresses the point of flight origin over nationality. My flight will come in from Germany to Greece. If that were the only criteria then I would not be quarantined based on that statement. I find it hard to believe it would be that simple, but it is possible that the number of people that will be country hopping to get in is considered so small it is not worth the time and resources to track everyone down. They are not going to test everyone coming in, even "clean" countries have cases of infections, so they understand that this is not some foolproof method of keeping any new cases out.

Romanianflyer

It is bizarre how much the answers can differ from what I normally would all consider as reliable sources!

Dutch state broadcaster NOS has written that nationality is a deciding factor as apparently the European Commission has complained to the Greek Government that it cannot discriminate on basis of this. To translate from the article:

"According to an European Commission spokesman the non-discriminatory principle counts: "There should not be discrimination based on nationality. A Dutch passenger on board a plane [from Germany] should be treated exactly the same as a German or Belgian passenger. If that doesn't happen, a traveller can first go to a national court, but eventually all the way to an European judge to get his rights."

Source: https://nos.nl/artikel/2335570-neder...t-bezwaar.html

Of course, as we all know, nobody will go to court as by the time such a case is decided COVID19 will be long forgotten making it practically useless. But really, how can different national authorities and respectable newspapers/media outlets all interpret these rules completely different? I still got quite a few queries running (Greek embassies, Tourist Board, Tourism Ministry etc) so I hope to get an answer by mail during the weekend, and if not I will pursue again by phone Monday morning.

the188

That seems just as silly as only relying on an origin point. Plenty of European citizens in the USA, which has a high infection percentage, would have no trouble getting in. I am a dual citizen, does this mean they would not be able to deny me entry based on my European nationality? I let that passport expire, but that would not change the fact that I have nationality.

Romanianflyer

This clarifies quite a bit:

https://apnews.com/5acf459a61d86112ada94122d09123d1
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/artic...-15-with-rules

EXTRA INFO: From July 1 all testing is random while additional restrictions regarding certain countries will be announced at a later date. [source: Bloomberg, 2nd link]

The one week is for those who test negative and can be home isolation at a Greek address, the two weeks will be for those testing positive. So let's say that as a Dutch citizen (not on the list) living in and departing from Romania (on the list) I would be OK, but that for example an Australian citizen (fine) living in the UK and departing from there (not fine) will not manage to enter Greece.

I'm still curious what they will do with of the random on-the-spot testing for those coming from one of the 29 safe countries, which the Greek government said it would do. Would they need to wait a government hotel too for one night until test results are clear, or can they move freely from the beginning? Could ruin plans if you fly into ATH, get picked out of the queue for sample testing, but actually have a same-day ferry departure or so.