MAE: Romania has been included on yellow list by Hungarian authorities; COVID testing at border mandatory

Romania has been included on the yellow list by the Hungarian authorities, according to the information made public by these authorities, which means that the Romanian citizens who travel to Hungary must have their tests for coronavirus done at the border crossing point, if they want to enter the neighbouring country, informs the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MAE).

Besides Romania, the yellow list also includes Bulgaria, Portugal, Sweden, UK, Norway, the Russian Federation, Serbia, Japan, China and the US, MAE shows in a press release to AGERPRES on Wednesday.

According to the same source, the new legislative provisions that regulate the entry to the Hungarian territory will be applied to both the Hungarian citizens and the foreign citizens (regardless of their citizenship, EU, non-EU), with the state (area) wherefrom the respective citizen comes to count as a criterion for entering Hungary. Moreover, according to the information communicated by the Hungarian authorities, the new provisions do not apply to transports of goods, holders of official passports and persons who can prove that they have been diagnosed with SARS-CoV-2 in the past six months.

The persons entering the Hungarian territory from the states included by the Hungarian authorities on the yellow list, among which Romania, must take the tests at the border crossing point. The citizens with symptoms are not allowed to enter the country and those without symptoms will be placed under quarantine, either institutionalized quarantine or self-isolation at home in Hungary (if possible), and the Hungarian authorities will keep a record of them.

Persons who are supposed to self-isolate at home can request the relevant authorities to leave quarantine after performing two biological molecular tests, at a distance of at least 48 hours. If the first test is negative, the person may be released from quarantine, but he/she will still be required to take the second test. If the second test is positive, the reinstatement of the 14-day quarantine is ordered.

Exempted from the self-isolation measure at home are persons who show at the border crossing two molecular tests with a negative result for SARS-CoV-2 virus infection carried out in the past five days before entering Hungary, but with a difference of at least 48 hours between them. The MAE reiterates that the respective certificates must be issued in Hungarian or English.

The MAE underscores that Romanian citizens coming from the states in the red zone will not be allowed to enter Hungarian territory.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs reminds that Romanian citizens can ask for consular assistance by dialling the telephone number of the Romanian Embassy in Budapest: 0036 13 847 689, of the Consulate General of Romania in Szeged: 0036 62 424 431 or of the Consulate General of Romania in Gyula: 0036 66 464 579, the calls being redirected to the Center for Contact and Support of Romanian Citizens Abroad (CCSCRS) and taken over by the call centre operators, on a permanent basis.

Also, the Romanian citizens who face a difficult, special situation, as an emergency, can dial the emergency telephone number of the diplomatic mission 0036 30 535 69 12 or of the consular offices: 0036 30 6777 980 - Consulate General of Romania at Szeged and 0036 30 6357181 - Consulate General of Romania in Gyula.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs recommends consulting the websites: www.mae.ro/node/51934, budapesta.mae.ro, szeged.mae.ro, gyula.mae.ro and www.mae.ro/.