St. Petersburg, Jun 2 (Agency) The European Union should allow people vaccinated with Russia’s Sputnik V to apply for the bloc’s COVID-19 certificate to travel across Europe, Governor of Italy’s southern region of Apulia, Michele Emiliano, told Sputnik on the sidelines of the St. Petersburg Economic Forum (SPIEF). The European Commission is currently considering easing entry for those who received COVID-19 vaccines approved by either the EU regulator or the World Health Organization.
“I really hope that Russian tourists who have received the double dose of the Russian vaccine can be added to the list of countries. Of course, we really hope that this will take place because for us, it is very desirable and the tourism from Russia has done a lot of good in the last few years,” Emiliano said, adding that EU travel rules are particularly complicated when it comes to Russian tourists. The official also expressed hope that travel to the province’s coastal city of Bari — stopped by the arrival of COVID-19 — would rebound next summer, as this year there are still many problems with regulating safe international travel.
This year’s edition of SPIEF is taking place in-person from Wednesday through Saturday at St. Petersburg’s ExpoForum Convention and Exhibition Center. The Rossiya Segodnya International Information Agency, the umbrella media organization that includes such brands as Sputnik, RIA Novosti, InoSMI, and Baltnews, among others, is an official media partner of the country’s major economic forum.