Coronavirus: Sweden’s neighbours’ reluctant to open borders following surge in deaths

Hind Al Soulia - Riyadh - The Nordic nations neighbouring Sweden are considering retaining travel restrictions to the country over its controversial approach to the coronavirus pandemic.

Sweden’s radically laissez-fair attitude to coronavirus has been blamed for a surge in deaths since the outbreak began. The nation passed the grim milestone of 4,000 deaths this week with 35,088 cases of confirmed.

Those figures have put Sweden’s death-toll nearly four times higher than the combined total of the other Nordic countries.

The stark difference and fears across Europe of a second spike in Covid-19 cases have led nations like Finland and Norway to consider whether allowing Swedish tourists to move without restrictions through a northern travel bubble is a risk work taking.

The European Union and Germany have led calls for the 27-member bloc to lift travel restrictions and open borders by mid-June.

However, in nations like Denmark there are growing calls to reopen borders with nations like Norway, a non-EU member, and Germany before Sweden.

“I certainly don’t think that we should wait opening the border with Germany until we can justify opening the border with Sweden,” Jakob Elleman-Jensen, the leader of Denmark’s opposition Liberal Party, said.

“If it isn’t safe from a health perspective to open the border with Sweden, Swedes should stay at home while we let in the Germans.”

Finland will retain its border controls until June 14 and while travel restrictions will be lifted for some neighbours, the country’s Interior Minister Maria Ohisalo has said the coronavirus situation in Sweden remains “worrying”.

"We can see that Sweden has a good overview of the situation and it's transparent. We speak to our Nordic colleagues weekly and there are ongoing discussions on how to lift the restrictions in the best way," Line Vold, director for infection disease control at the Norwegian Institute of Public Health, told Radio Sweden.

In March, when other nations across Europe imposed strict lockdown measures radically restricting individual movement and closing non-essential businesses, Sweden took a markedly relaxed approach.

While the government banned gatherings of over 50 people, bars, cafes and restaurants remained open. It was recommended individuals try to abide by social distancing rules but those recommendations were not given any legal force. Sweden also kept its borders open to neighbouring nations.

As Swedes were told to exercise their common sense, images of Stockholm’s packed bars and parks were in dramatic contrast to the empty city centres of London, Paris and Berlin under coronavirus lockdown.

The Swedish government has hit out at reports that Sweden could be excluded when travel restrictions are lifted. Foreign Minister Ann Linde said the decision would be a political conclusion rather than a choice justified by health concerns.

“It is a very complicated issue, and I think that all politicians in every country should also look at the long term effect before they take very politically motivated decisions,” Ms Linde said.

While Sweden has advised its residents not to travel abroad until July 15, up to a month later than some European nations, already EU member Cyprus has said it will not be accepting tourists from Sweden because of the high rate of Covid-19 spread.

When the Mediterranean island nation reopens from June 9, it has said that it will accept direct flights from Norway, Denmark and Finland.

Sweden has tried to present its coronavirus policy in the best possible light, arguing that the high number of casualties now will pay-out with greater immunity in the population.

However, the World Health Organisation has warned that recovery from coronavirus symptoms does not necessarily guarantee immunity.

With Sweden, by some calculations, the country worst hit by the coronavirus in the world, leading Britain, the US and Italy, experts remain divided on the efficacy of Stockholm’s plan.

“When we get to summer, it might be the case that we have so many people in Sweden who are immune that it could be safer for Swedes to go there than others,” Anders Tegnell, Sweden’s state epidemiologist has said over possible summer travel plans.