Greece introduced the new green passport program which aims to facilitate travel within the EU during the coronavirus pandemic on Friday morning.
Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis presented the finished product and implored other EU nations to have their green passport platforms operational earlier than planned.
Greece leading the way with green passport
Greece is the first EU country to implement the green passport initiative, having already gone through a testing phase and prepared a fully-operational online platform for it. PM Mitsotakis was the very first national leader to promote the idea back in January of 2021.
Mitsotakis sat alongside Digital Governance Minister Kyriakos Pierrakakis and President of the European Council Charles Michel as he unveiled the new program. The Vice President of the European Commission for Promoting our European Way of Life, Margaritis Schinas, was also present.
The conference took place at the Greek Research and Technology Network headquarters (GRNET) on Friday morning.
Although Greece is ready to start issuing the new green passport by June 1, other EU nations are still working on developing their programs. The official introduction of the program across the EU is expected on July 1, but Mitsotakis was quick to encourage his fellow high-ranking EU politicians to prioritize the digital certificate.
“Greece is ready to activate the EU Digital Green Certificate earlier than July 1 and we encourage other countries to do the same to avoid the complexity of bilateral negotiations,” said Mitsotakis.
He continued, ”I insist that our intention is not to divide, but the digital certificate will make a decisive contribution to facilitating travel, especially in the summer, which is a tourist season.”
Michel’s tweet about the groundbreaking event is shown below.
Greece 🇬🇷 is on the frontline of European recovery.
Η ιδέα για το ευρωπαϊκό ψηφιακό πιστοποιητικό γίνεται σήμερα πραγματικότητα!
Ο @PrimeministerGR είναι ένας από τους πρωτεργάτες αυτής της ιδέας που θα μας βοηθήσει να επιστρέψουμε στη κανονικότητα. Η Ελλάδα στη πρώτη γραμμή. pic.twitter.com/sjtu07vMAb
— Charles Michel (@eucopresident) May 28, 2021
“The idea for a EU Digital Certificate is becoming a reality today! Mitsotakis is one of the pioneers of this idea which will help us return to normalcy. Greece is on the front lines.”
EU Digital Certificate to change travel during the coronavirus pandemic
The new green passports will be available in both physical and digital forms and will be free for all EU residents.
The certificate will be used to show whether the holder has been vaccinated against Covid-19, has received a negative test result or has recovered from it.
The vaccination passport will operate using unique QR codes in order to guarantee their authenticity.
When the online platform opens to Greeks on gov.gr, all citizens will be able to log on using either their personal Taxisnet passwords or their AMKA (Social Security) number. They can then be issued a “Digital Green Certificate,” which is being hailed as the saving grace of the European travel industry.
However, these vaccine passports will not be mandatory for travel — unlike other coronavirus regulations such as testing.
Mitsotakis tweeted a link to a live stream of the presentation of the new Green Digital Certificate, shown below.
Live | Παρουσίαση του ευρωπαϊκού ψηφιακού πιστοποιητικού EU Digital COVID Certificate, το οποίο θα διευκολύνει τα ταξίδια εντός της Ευρωπαϊκής Ένωσης. https://t.co/pKjyV7ASW2
— Prime Minister GR (@PrimeministerGR) May 28, 2021
See all the latest news from Greece and the world at Greekreporter.com. Contact our newsroom to report an update or send your story, photos and videos. Follow GR on Google News and subscribe here to our daily email!
