Austria’s Kurz Sees ‘No Basis’ Yet to Open Italian Border

(Bloomberg) --

Austria won’t open its border with Italy yet and will keep travel restrictions for France and Spain in place because new infections in those countries are still high, Chancellor Sebastian Kurz said.

“In Italy the situation is problematic, the new infections are still very high, similarly to France and Spain,” Kurz told journalists in Vienna on Wednesday. “There is no basis right now to think about a border opening to Italy.”

Austria’s border with Switzerland is likely to reopen on June 15, according to the latter country’s Justice Ministry. Bern is also targeting that date for normalizing travel to France and Germany, provided that the epidemic doesn’t worsen. No mention was made of Italy in the ministry’s Twitter posting.

Austria’s Kurz said plans to reopen borders with his country’s eastern neighbors may be presented in the coming days or next week at the latest.

©2020 Bloomberg L.P.