BELGRADE, Serbia 

The European Union decided Monday to recognize the COVID-19 vaccine certificates of four countries.  

The European Commission announced that it has adopted four decisions certifying that COVID-19 certificates issued by Georgia, Moldova, New Zealand and Serbia are equivalent to the EU Digital COVID Certificate.

The statement said the four countries will as a result be connected to the EU vaccination certificate system as of Tuesday and their vaccine certificates will be accepted under the same conditions as the EU certificate.

European Commissioner for Justice Didier Reynders said that with today's decision, 49 countries and territories on five continents are currently connected to the EU Digital COVID Certification system.

European Commissioner for Neighborhood and Enlargement Oliver Varhelyi welcomed the decision.

“Today, I welcome that Georgia, Moldova as well as Serbia have joined our Digital COVID Certificate system and I look forward to more of our neighbors connecting as soon as possible. Just as we have stood by our partners in the fight against the pandemic, we continue to work together to open up safely,” said Varhelyi

The vaccination certificate application prepared by the EU to facilitate travel during the pandemic entered into force on July 1.

The approved COVID-19 vaccines in the EU with a certificate are Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna, AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson.