The Baltic Bubble was a special travel-restricted area consisting of the

Baltic states The Baltic states, et, Balti riigid or the Baltic countries is a geopolitical term, which currently is used to group three countries: Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. All three countries are members of NATO, the European Union, the Eurozone, ...

Estonia Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, a ...

Latvia Latvia ( or ; lv, Latvija ; ltg, Latveja; liv, Leţmō), officially the Republic of Latvia ( lv, Latvijas Republika, links=no, ltg, Latvejas Republika, links=no, liv, Leţmō Vabāmō, links=no), is a country in the Baltic region of ...

and

Lithuania Lithuania (; lt, Lietuva ), officially the Republic of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Respublika, links=no ), is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea. Lithuania ...

created on May 15, 2020, during the

COVID-19 pandemic in Europe The global COVID-19 pandemic arrived in Europe with its first confirmed case in Bordeaux, France, on 24 January 2020, and subsequently spread widely across the continent. By 17 March 2020, every country in Europe had confirmed a case, and all ...

. It was the first travel bubble in

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

and in the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...

since COVID-19 restrictions were first implemented. The creation of the Baltic Bubble was announced by the

prime minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

s of the three states on April 29, 2020. It allowed citizens of the states to travel across the borders of the states without needing to

self-isolate In health care facilities, isolation represents one of several measures that can be taken to implement in infection control: the prevention of communicable diseases from being transmitted from a patient to other patients, health care workers, ...

unless the citizens had travelled outside of the area within the previous 14 days. The Baltic Bubble was suspended on November 11, 2020, when Latvia restricted entry conditions for people coming from Estonia due to an increase in COVID-19 cases. On April 28, 2021, Estonia Foreign Minister Eva-Maria Liimets announced that the Baltic Bubble could be restored in the summer of 2021, allowing for the facilitation of travel between the states again. On April 29, 2021, Lithuania Prime Minister

Ingrida Šimonytė Ingrida Šimonytė (; born 15 November 1974) is a Lithuanian politician and economist who is the Prime Minister of Lithuania since 11 December 2020. She has been a Member of the Seimas of Antakalnis constituency since 2016 and was Minister of F ...

questioned the need for a Baltic Bubble because a European Union Green Pass was already in development at the time that would allow for people to freely travel across the entire EU. On May 28, 2021, the Lithuanian Economy and Innovation Ministry announced that the three Baltic states were planning on reintroducing the Baltic Bubble.

References

Containment efforts related to the COVID-19 pandemic COVID-19 pandemic in Europe 2020 disasters in Europe 2020 establishments in Europe COVID-19 pandemic in Latvia COVID-19 pandemic in Estonia COVID-19 pandemic in Lithuania 2020 establishments in Lithuania 2020 establishments in Estonia {{COVID19-pandemic-stub

See also

References