Earlier last week, Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis pledged to work toward the reopening of the summer tourist season on 1 July, after the coronavirus pandemic had put into doubt the future of many tourist-related businesses in the country.

“Greece and the Czech Republic are also negotiating a variant of traveling without a COVID-19 negative test result,” said today in a press release today the Deputy Foreign Minister Martin Smolek after talks with Greek Foreign Minister Harry Theoharis.

“The Greek minister assured us that the vast majority of islands will be open to Czechs. We are also considering an option to enter Greece without a test,” Smolek added.

The Greek government announced the reopening of restaurants and cafes in the country on 1 June, thanks to the population’s great efforts in stifling and stopping the spread of the coronavirus.

Greek authorities on Monday (May 18) opened up more than 200 archaeological sites that were closed for almost two months due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Archeological sites are in the first category of cultural sites that will reopen, followed by open-air summer cinemas on June 1, museums on June 15, and art events on July 15, culture minister Lina Mendoni has announced.

The sites will operate from 8 am to 8 pm, and the visitors will be required to keep a distance of 1.5 meters from one another. Authorities have also announced strict rules for using the restroom facilities at the sites, including disinfecting the hands and wearing face masks.

Wizz Air is already selling tickets to several Greek destinations from London Luton for July including Zakynthos, Heraklion, Corfu, and Rhodes.

From 26 May, it will be possible to cross borders and checks will only be random. However, it will still be mandatory to prove a negative test for COVID-19 when entering the country. Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Interior Jan Hamáček (CSSD) stated today.

“Today, the government has agreed that the border regime will be relaxed from 26 May: it will be possible to cross it at several border crossings. Checks by health authorities and the police will be less frequent and only random,” said Hamáček.

However, the obligation to submit a negative test for COVID-19 when entering the Czech Republic will continue to apply,“ Hamáček said.

Austria has already abolished border controls, opening all crossings with the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary. Checks for coronavirus are also random.

According to data from the Police of the Czech Republic, between 16 March and 15 May, the Czech police checked 1,552,000 vehicles departing from the Czech Republic and 1,637,000 vehicles arriving in the country.

Police denied the departure of 14,000 people and stopped 24,000 people from entering the Czech Republic.

The European Commission on Wednesday called on EU member states to gradually begin to ease the border restrictions they have adopted due to the spread of the coronavirus. At the same time, it recommended opening borders between states with the favorable development of the coronavirus spread first.

dir=”ltr”>Vláda se dnes shodla, že se od 26. 5. uvolní režim na hranicích: bude je možné překročit na více hraničních přechodech a kontrola bude pouze namátková. Dál však bude platit (až na platné výjimky) povinnost předložit při vstupu do ČR negativní test na covid-19.

— Jan Hamáček (@jhamacek) May 18, 2020