Hungary, Serbia and Montenegro concluded a free travel agreement for people in possession of vaccine certificates, Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó announced on his Facebook page on Thursday. The agreement was made possible by the fast pace at which Hungarian vaccination is proceeding, he said.
“If all goes well, we will soon be able to say that we have already been able to vaccinate 4 million compatriots and thus protect them from the epidemic. So, we can take another step toward normalcy, which will allow us to agree with some countries on quarantine-free and test-free travel for our citizens,” Szijjártó wrote.
“Today, we agreed with Serbian Foreign Minister Nikola Selaković and Montenegrin Foreign Minister Đorđe Radulović that our vaccination certificates would be mutually recognized and that vaccinated people would be able to travel freely between Hungary and Serbia and Hungary and Montenegro starting tomorrow,” he wrote. The FM added that Hungary is in talks with more countries to reach similar agreements.
“We have also started negotiations with Greece and Israel on this, and we will provide immediate information as soon as it becomes available,” Szijjártó wrote.
Like most of the countries in the region, Hungary is keen on resuscitating its tourism industry, which before the pandemic accounted for almost 10 percent of its gross domestic product. The onset of the pandemic and the resulting travel restrictions hit the tourism and hospitality sector hard: Last year, the number of nights foreign visitors stayed in Hungarian hotels dropped by 90 percent versus 2019.
Title image: Serbian Foreign Minister Nikola Selaković and Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó. (source: Facebook)
