Greece’s Tourism Minister Haris Theoharis was interviewed on BBC and stated that he believed the country could be open for tourists from certain countries by July at the earliest.

Asked how soon Greece could be open to welcome visitors from abroad, Theoharis deferred to the advice of health experts but he said that the country hopes to be open by July, pending bilateral agreements with certain countries that will allow their nationals to visit.

“We are currently in the process of setting up the protocols that will be submitted to the committee of experts,” he said. “We hope that they will be able to give us their go ahead to open up gradually.”

“We need to aim some time in July to be able to open up,” he said. “This cannot be with every source country, with every destination, I acknowledge that, but at least we have to try to open with some countries the bilateral communication and travel.”

BBC Interview With Tourism Minister Haris Theoharis

Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis also got behind the push to open borders as soon as possible and called on the European Commission to come up with a plan to resume travel “as soon as possible.”

Speaking at the EU Council, Mitsotakis said the EU single market is not there only to serve free movement of goods but also the movement of people.

“We need to reach common understanding as to movement of people,” he said, adding that backing tourism in Europe’s south is “demonstrable” support.