Following an Integrated Political Crisis Response (IPCR) conference on January 10, 2021, EU member states agreed to relax the travel ban on Southern African countries.
Member states agreed “to lift the emergency break to allow air transport to continue with southern African countries,” according to a tweet from the European Union’s presidency.
Following an earlier IPCR meeting on November 26, 2021, EU nations launched a “emergency break,” imposing temporary emergency restrictions on all travel into the EU from countries in Southern Africa. This measure was described as a reaction to an increase in Omicron variant cases that have now been discovered all over the world.
🔴🇪🇺 Member States have agreed this morning at IPCR meeting to lift the emergency break to allow air travel to resume with southern African countries. (…) 1/2 ⤵️
— Présidence française du Conseil de l’UE 🇫🇷🇪🇺 (@Europe2022FR) January 10, 2022
The news that the travel ban has been lifted will be welcomed by African countries, which have seen less travel as a result of the restrictions. Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, and Zimbabwe are among the African countries affected by the limitations.
However, once Omicron was discovered all over the world, certain EU nations began to examine loosening restrictions before deciding whether or not to lift the prohibition.
According to the Robert Koch Institute, Germany has revealed its intention to decrease restrictions on other countries, notably African ones, from “virus variant” to “high-risk.” On January 4, 2022, these amendments went into effect.
 conference on January 10, 2021, EU member states agreed to relax the travel ban on Southern African countries.){kind=link}