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Denmark ready to open to all 'acceptably safe' European countries

The Local Denmark
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Denmark ready to open to all 'acceptably safe' European countries
Mette Frederiksen said that Denmark was now willing to open its borders further. Photo: Martin Sylvest/Ritzau Scanpix

Denmark's government is ready to open its borders to tourists from any country in Europe where the coronavirus pandemic is under control, Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said on Tuesday.

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Health authorities will assess the infection risk in each European country, using an as-yet-unpublished set of objective criteria, she said. 
 
"In the government, we would like to now set objective criteria for when a country is safe enough for its citizens to visit Denmark," Prime Minister said during the Danish parliament's weekly question time session. 
 
"In other words, if the number of new infected is at an acceptable level, we will open the borders to that country." 
 
The statement was then republished on the Twitter account of Denmark's cabinet office. 
 

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The government plans shortly to submit the new criteria to the Danish parliament's foreign policy committee, perhaps as early as Wednesday, to give opposition and support parties a chance to contribute. 
 
The proposal indicates that Denmark's government will further relax the current travel restrictions before they expire on August 31st. 
 
The proposal comes only days after Norway opened up to tourists from the Nordic countries, putting in place a similar set of criteria to determine which regions have "acceptable" infection levels. 
 
The Norwegian system have all regions of Iceland, Denmark and Finland the all clear, but forbade entry to people from every region in Sweden except Gotland. 
 
It is unclear whether the coming Danish system will similarly look at national regions individually, or whether it will judge countries as a whole. 
 
Frederiksen said that the new system would allow Denmark to adjust border controls over the coming year, based on the prevailing infection levels in different countries 
 
"It will make it easier to open for entry and exit continuously and still have control over the situation at home," she said. 
 

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