Germany's foreign minister consults with European colleagues on possibility of summer vacations

Germany's foreign minister is consulting with 10 European colleagues on how to go about making summer vacations elsewhere on the continent possible.

Germany's two-month-old warning against tourist travel to any country is due to expire on June 14. It and other countries aim to restore free travel across their borders next month.

Foreign Minister Heiko Maas planned a video conference Monday with counterparts from 10 countries that are popular destinations for Germans.

He told ZDF television that we want to discuss under what criteria a summer vacation could be possible -- including issues such as entry rules and quarantine requirements that some nations have imposed.

Maas said countries also will have to agree on a mechanism to react very quickly if coronavirus infections surge again.

He added that even if a summer vacation will be possible elsewhere in Europe, which I hope, one has to say that this vacation this year won't be like the ones we know from the past, because the pandemic is still there and we must at least have safety precautions for the worst case that the figures get worse again.