Lithuania's prime minister has doubts if there is a need for a Baltic ‘travel bubble’, because a green pass is already in the works for free travel across the EU.
“Discussions can happen, of course. But given ongoing discussions on a European solution, the question is where we should focus our efforts and which will come sooner,” Ingrida Šimonytė told reporters on Thursday.
Read more: Estonia seeks to restart Baltic ‘travel bubble’, Lithuania ‘open to proposals’
The prime minister was commenting on reports that Estonian Foreign Minister Eva-Maria Liimets was seeking a mandate from the government to restart negotiations with Latvia and Lithuania on restoring the Baltic travel bubble, free travel rules for the citizens and residents of the three countries.
“I'm looking at this from the point of view of practical implementation, that is, if we'll really need such a bubble,” the Lithuanian prime minister said. “If we do, then yes, it worked last summer and can work this summer, too.”
After the first wave of the Covid-19 pandemic subsided in May 2020, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia agreed on the Baltic ‘travel bubble’, allowing free movement of citizens and residents across the three countries.
The travel regime was scrapped, however, when infections started growing in early autumn.
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