The current rules for entering Greece, introduced a month ago, have been extended for another two weeks and a negative PCR or Rapid test is still mandatory for all travelers, regardless of whether they are vaccinated or not, a measure that applies to citizens of Northern Macedonia, said the correspondent of MIA from Athens.

The new ministerial decision "Preconditions for entry into the country to limit the spread of Covid-19" enters into force tomorrow, and will be valid until February 7, 2022 at six o'clock.

A negative PCR test result up to 72 hours before the trip or a rapid test 24 hours before arrival, together with a completed PLF form are mandatory for entry into Greece, whether visitors have been vaccinated, have passed Covid-19 or have not been vaccinated.

At the same time, there are no changes regarding the unvaccinated passengers from 16 countries, including Northern Macedonia, who, in addition to a negative test before the trip, will need to pass a negative test at the border during the mandatory testing by the Greek authorities.

The ministerial decision has already been published in the Official Gazette of Greece, and MIA details all the preconditions for travel to the southern neighbor.

According to the decision, "all travelers to Greece, regardless of nationality and way of entering the country, regardless of vaccination or disease, must be tested negatively" with PCR in the last 72 hours before their arrival in the country or "alternatively be tested negatively by using a rapid antigen test within 24 hours before their arrival in Greece ”.

Testing must be in a state or private laboratory approved by the country of origin, and the certificate must be in Greek, English, French, German, Italian, Spanish or Russian, and, as for the certificate, it must contain the name and surname. to the person traveling, as registered in the passport.

A special provision has been in place for several months for the unvaccinated and those who have not been vaccinated against Covid-19, and arrive in Greece from: Egypt, Albania, Argentina, Northern Macedonia, Bulgaria, Brazil, Georgia, Cuba, United Arab Emirates, India, China, Libya, Morocco, Pakistan, Russia and Turkey and a prerequisite for entry is to get a negative result from the mandatory PCR / Rapid Test at the entry points in Greece.

Mandatory entry testing does not apply to vaccinated persons who have a vaccination certificate with 14 days from the second dose and those who have passed Covid-19 and have a certificate that is valid 14 days after the first positive result and up to 90 days later.

Regarding the certificates of illness and the changes introduced last month, according to the decision, those issued from July 15, 2021 to October 31, 2021 are valid until January 31, 2022, and the rest are up to 90 days after the first positive result.

The specific travel obligations apply to both adults and children under the age of five.

Additionally, for travel, the electronic form PLF (Passenger Locator Form) is mandatory, which should be filled in through the website https://travel.gov.gr, after which a confirmation with a QR code is obtained and it is considered a necessary document to enter Greece.

All visitors to Greece, regardless of the country of origin, can be tested, and the selection is made according to the health algorithm and with the help of the code from the PLF form.

The tests for the vaccinated and those who have passed Covid-19 are random, and for the others they are mandatory.

Given that the quarantine in Greece has been reduced from ten to five days, in case of a positive result in border testing, a five-day quarantine is provided in an appropriate space indicated by the competent authorities.

Persons traveling with confirmed cases, ie close contacts of those who are positive for Covid-19, have the opportunity to return to their country the same or the next day, provided they receive two negative results from two tests (PCR or Rapid) taken within 24 hours and during the trip to wear a mask with high protection or KN95 or double mask.

In case persons traveling with the confirmed cases remain in the country and have not been vaccinated or have passed six months since the second dose or have not received Covid-19 in the past three months, then they should be in isolation for five days after the last contact with the positive person. and on the last day to do a PCR or rapid test.

If close contacts are vaccinated with a third dose or six months have not passed since the second or Covid-19 has passed in the last 90 days, then quarantine is not required, but they must be tested on the fifth day of contact.

For violation of legal measures and obligations, fines of 500 and 5.000 euros are provided.

For entry into Greece, all land border crossings are open 24 hours a day, with the exception of Merzani to Albania, which is open from 8 am to 20 pm, and from Turkey through Castanes and Kipi, 1.500 people are allowed to enter per week.

From Northern Macedonia to the southern neighbor you can travel through Evzoni (Bogorodica), through Niki (Medzitlija) and Dojran, without any restrictions in terms of number of visitors or in terms of working hours.

The decision, as reported by MIA, states that tourists, during their stay in Greece, must respect the measures that apply inland.

The introduction of a mandatory entry test for all of Greece was announced by the Greek government in the middle of last month, as a temporary and emergency measure during the holidays, to prevent the spread of Omicron, a strain that is already dominant in the country.

Although the specific measure introduced on December 19, 2021 was originally planned to be valid until January 10, 2022, now it has been extended for the second time, for another two weeks.

Source: MIA