It will ‘take months for EU travel to return to normal,’ says Irish PM Varadkar

It will be a matter of months, not weeks, before Covid-19 restrictions are lifted and travel around the European Union returns to normal, Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar said on Thursday.

Ireland is part of a Common Travel Area with the United Kingdom but is not a member of the European Union’s Schengen free travel area. The country is considering strengthening public health requirements for visitors from abroad, Varadkar told parliament.

“While it is our policy to resume normal travel for business, leisure, study and visits to friends and relatives (around the EU) as soon as it is safe to do so… it will be months, not weeks, before this is possible,” Reuters quoted the PM as saying.