Since 2016, PolGeoNow has mapped reinstated border controls within Europe's Schengen free travel area, with the companion piece to this article covering changes from mid-2017 up to last month. Now, border controls between European countries have drastically expanded amid the global coronavirus pandemic.
Read on for a country-by-country list of border controls and travel bans, plus a timeline of what went into effect when.
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| Map by Evan Centanni, from blank map by Ssolbergj. License: CC BY-SA |
Coronavirus-related Border Checks in the Schengen Area
As many travelers know, much of Europe is linked together as part of the "Schengen Area", a collection of countries that don't make travelers show any ID to cross the borders between them, and don't regulate what people bring across with them either (although this system is overseen by the European Union, the Schengen Area and the EU aren't the same thing). But under special circumstances, member countries can choose to temporarily resume border checks (also known as "border control").Learn More: What is the Schengen Area, and which countries are and aren't part of it?
Setting up border controls between Schengen member countries for the long term is discouraged, and usually against the rules, but short-term controls are definitely allowed for well-defined emergencies or planned events that need heightened security. And as the COVID-19 coronavirus disease has spread rapidly across Europe and the world in recent weeks, many Schengen Area member countries have taken advantage of that right.
Reintroducing border controls doesn't usually mean closing a country's borders to foreign visitors. Normally, Schengen-internal border controls are required to still let most people through, just limiting them to designated crossing points and requiring passport or ID checks. However, during the coronavirus pandemic, many governments have decided that they're also allowed to take the extra step of turning away most people who aren't citizens or residents of their country. These bans are controversial - treating citizens of other Schengen countries differently from your own is normally illegal under EU law, and while special measures are specifically allowed for battling a disease epidemic, there's a legal argument that the current restrictions are applied in inappropriate (and unhelpful) ways.
Meanwhile, some countries have managed to limit travel from other Schengen members without declaring border controls, often by simply canceling all international flights - no border controls are necessary for screening airline passengers if there are no passengers. Likewise, many countries have cancelled all international train and bus routes, and some have banned all ships coming from certain parts of the Schengen Area. This is probably bending the rules, but might not count as "border control" in the normal sense, since no one is screening the individual passengers from the boats. They still have to ask the boats where they came from, but they presumably always had to do that anyway to know whether they came from inside or outside the Schengen Area.
Schengen Area: Current Border Controls by Country
Updated April 14, 2020The following is a full list of the countries of the Schengen Area, listing which borders they currently have notified the EU that they may conduct controls on. Except where a link is provided, the information in this article comes from the EU's official list of border control notifications (PDF). Information on the current situation can also be found on the official Schengen border controls webpage, though the webpage is sometimes less up-to-date that the PDF list.
Keep in mind that arrivals from non-Schengen countries are always subject to border controls, so reintroductions of border control refer only to borders between Schengen member countries. And note that most travelers from outside Schengen are currently banned from entering the whole area, unless they're from a non-Schengen EU member country or the UK (which is being temporarily treated like an EU member after technically leaving two months ago). Travel bans you may have heard of for countries like France or the Netherlands refer to this ban on visitors from outside Schengen, not to Schengen-internal border controls. This restriction on visits to the Schengen Area is enforced by the countries themselves though, so the details of how it's implemented could vary from country to country.
In the list below, the phrase "all borders" includes arrivals at airports and by sea as well as land crossings. Controls are likely to be extended beyond the listed end dates. Be aware that this information could be incomplete, and that the situation can change at any time without prior notice.
Austria - Controls for land borders with Germany, Italy, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Czechia, and Slovakia until April 27, and land borders with Hungary and Slovenia until May 12. Includes travel ban for most non-resident foreign citizens who cannot prove they have tested negative for the coronavirus. Austria has not notified the EU of any controls for arrivals by air from within the Schengen area, but says that non-Austrian citizens arriving by air from other Schengen countries will be detained in quarantine for 14 days or until they can show that they have tested negative for the coronavirus, whichever comes first.
Belgium - Controls for all borders until April 19. Includes ban on non-essential travel, with exceptions for Belgian citizens.
Czechia - Controls for all arrivals by air, and for land crossings from Austria and Germany, until April 24. EU not notified of controls for land crossings from Poland or Slovakia, but government has announced ban on all non-resident foreign citizens entering the country until at least April 15, and all public transit links into the country have been canceled. 
Denmark - Controls for all borders until November 12. Includes entry ban for all foreign citizens unless they have a "creditable purpose".
Estonia - Controls for all borders until at least April 15. Includes entry ban for non-resident foreign citizens, with exceptions.
Finland - Controls for all borders until May 13. Includes entry ban for non-resident foreign citizens, with exceptions. As of early April, land border restricted to essential traffic and international ferry routes "recommended" to be canceled.
France - Controls for all borders until October 31, part of the country's 2015-present series of border control extensions, mostly said to be for preventing terrorism, but now for the coronavirus outbreak as well. However, many borders are reportedly not being controlled in reality. 
Germany - Controls for land borders with Denmark, Luxembourg, France, Switzerland and Austria, arrivals by air from those countries plus Italy and Spain, and arrivals by sea from Denmark, until at least April 15. Germany has not specifically banned the entry of foreign citizens arriving from
other Schengen countries, but says that tourists and other travelers
without a good enough reason will be turned away at the controlled land borders. Non-coronavirus-related controls are allowed along land border with Austria until May 12 even if the coronavirus controls are not extended. No official controls are in place for air or sea arrivals from any other Schengen country, or for land
crossings from the Netherlands, Belgium, Czechia, or Poland. However, air and sea arrivals are apparently still being screened for coronavirus symptoms.
Greece - Has not notified EU of any border controls, though all flights from Italy and Spain have been canceled, and arrivals by sea from Italy have also been banned. Greece has no land borders with any other Schengen member country.
Hungary - Controls for all borders until at least April 11 (probably to be extended further, but this has not been confirmed). Includes entry ban for most foreign citizens, with some exceptions for local traffic.
Iceland - EU not notified of any controls, though most citizens of countries outside the EU and Schengen Areas are banned from entry, apparently even if arriving from another Schengen country. No restrictions on entry by citizens and residents of Schengen or EU countries.
Italy - EU not notified of any controls.
Latvia - EU not notified of any controls, but government has announced that all public transportation ties to other EU countries will be cut (including bus, train, and airline connections, and presumably ferries too), with possibility for exceptions. Entry of foreign citizens by foot or private vehicle is apparently still allowed from within the Schengen Area.
Liechtenstein - EU not notified of any controls.
Lithuania - Controls on all borders until at April 27. Includes entry ban for non-resident foreign citizens, with some exceptions.
Luxembourg - EU not notified of any controls.
Malta - EU not notified of any controls, but all commercial passenger flights canceled, and all air and sea travel banned from Switzerland, Germany, France, Spain, and Italy. Malta does not have any land borders.
Netherlands - EU not notified of any controls.
Norway - Controls for all borders until at least April 15. Includes entry ban for foreign citizens who do not live or work in Norway. Non-coronavirus-related controls for ferry arrivals from Denmark, Germany, and Sweden until May 12.
Poland - Controls for all borders until May 3 according to government (notification not yet published on Schengen website). Includes entry ban for non-resident foreign citizens.
Portugal - Controls for land border with Spain until at least April 15. No controls for arrival by air or sea from any Schengen member country. No general entry ban for foreigners coming from within the Schengen Area, but the land border will be closed to tourism.
Slovakia - Conducting controls for all borders, but has not notified the EU. All public transportation links into the country have been canceled, and there are no public flights into the country until at least April 16. Entry ban applies for all non-resident foreign nationals.
Slovenia - EU not notified of any controls.
Spain - Controls on all land borders announced until April 25. Includes entry ban for most non-resident foreign citizens, with some exceptions. Spain also says most non-resident foreigners will be turned away at air and sea ports, and is reportedly conducting checks on such arrivals, despite its notification to the EU applying only to land borders.
Sweden - Controls that "may concern all borders" until November 12 (same as before pandemic; coronavirus not listed as a reason).
Switzerland - Controls for all borders except Liechtenstein until May 2, including both land and air arrivals. No controls for land or air crossings from Liechtenstein. Controls include entry ban for most non-resident foreign citizens.Timeline: Schengen Temporary Border Controls for Coronavirus
Schengen rules require that last-minute announcements of border controls be for no more than 10 days, with 20-day extensions possible up to a total of two months if the threat continues. Border controls announced in advance are generally allowed to last up to 30 days, though in some cases they can be extended for six-month periods up to two years, and in the past several countries have gotten away with bending the rules to extend them even further. |
| Schengen internal border controls just before coronavirus |
Although we say here that a country "begins border controls", keep in mind that it doesn't necessarily have to enforce the controls - this is merely an announcement that the country considers itself allowed to do so. Likewise, mentions of which borders are "still unregulated" are based on the official EU notifications and news that has reached us at PolGeoNow, but could be incorrect if the country has instituted controls very recently or has not notified the EU.
March 25, 2020
Poland's border controls are extended 20 days, though the official notification is not published on the EU website until several days later.
March 30, 2020
Belgium extends its border controls for 20 more days. Though we did not report on it previously, Belgium's controls were already being used to enforce a ban on non-essential travel, with exceptions for Belgian citizens.
Austria announces that is using its land border controls with Germany, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Italy, Hungary, and Slovenia to ban entry for most non-resident foreign citizens, unless they have proof of testing negative for the novel coronavirus within the last four days. There appear to still be no restrictions for entering Austria from the land borders with Czechia or Slovakia, though Czechia is not letting most people out anyway. Entry by air from within the Schengen Area is allowed for people of all nationalities, but non-Austrian citizens will be detained in quarantine for 14 days or until they can show that they have tested negative for the coronavirus, whichever comes first.
April 1-2, 2020
Hungary relaxes its travel ban a bit, reopening its borders with Austria, and part of its border with Slovakia to people with cross-border work commutes. The next day, it reopens two crossings on its border with Slovenia to all Hungarian and Slovenian citizens. The country is presumably still conducting controls along these borders to determine who is and is not allowed to cross.
April 4, 2020
France announces that it has informed the EU in advance of another six-month extension to its right to conduct border controls, which it has maintained for terrorism and immigration-related purposes ever since 2015. In its formal notification, found on the EU's official list, it says the reasons for the extension are "continuous terrorist threat and the risk of terrorists using the vulnerability of States due to COVID-19 pandemics" and "support to measures aiming at containing the spread of virus", changed from "persistent terrorist threat, upcoming high profile political event in Paris, secondary movements" in its previous notification from Fall 2019. The change indicates that migration of refugees and immigrants within the Schengen Area ("secondary movements") is no longer part of France's official rationale for the controls.
France also adds "coronavirus COVID-19 (as of beginning of March)" to its official reasoning for its October 2019 to April 2020 border controls, which were previously set to expire on April 30. The new extension lasts until October 31, 2020. However, up to the present France reportedly has rarely enforced controls along most of its borders, even during the coronavirus epidemic.
Czechia extends its controls on arrivals by air and for the land borders with Austria and Germany for 20 more days. It still has no official border controls for the land borders with Poland and Slovakia, despite most non-resident foreign citizens being legally forbidden to enter the country.
Switzerland extends its controls for arrivals by air for 20 more days, while maintaining the exception for flights from Liechtenstein.
April 7, 2020
Finland announces that its border controls, set to expire on April 13, will be extended for one more month. The country is presumably arguing that Schengen rules allow it to enact the longer extension so long as it was made a week in advance. It also announces that security along the controlled borders will be tightened, with most commuters banned from crossing the land border with Sweden, and ferries from Sweden, Germany, and Estonia recommended to cancel their routes.
April 8, 2020
Austria's controls along the land borders with Germany, Italy, Switzerland, and Liechtenstein are extended for 20 more days. There are still officially no controls for entry to Austria by land from Czechia or Slovakia, or for entry by air from any Schengen country.
April 8-9, 2020
Sweden and Denmark both announce in advance that they will extend their pre-coronavirus border control rights for another six months, from May 12 to November 12, 2020. Denmark reserves the right to control all its land, air, and sea borders "to the extent necessary" for the coronavirus outbreak, after which it will go back to keeping them only on the land and sea borders with Germany and Sweden, for protection against "terrorist threats" and "organized criminality". Sweden, which is becoming known for its "relaxed" approach to the disease outbreak, still doesn't add coronavirus to its official reasons for conducting border controls, continuing to reserve the right to control any of its borders to combat "terrorist threats" and "shortcomings at the external borders" (Schengen lingo for "failure of southern European countries to control migration into the Schengen Area").
April 10, 2020
Austria begins 17 days of controls at the land borders with Czechia and Slovakia, though the official notification will not be published on the Schengen website until four days later. It now has notified of controls at all of its land borders until at least April 27. Arrivals by air from within the Schengen area are not officially subject to border controls, though passengers may be subjected to mandatory quarantine upon arrival.
April 11, 2020
Spain announces that its border controls are extended for two more weeks, though the official notification will not be published on the Schengen website until three days later. Reports confirm that checks are being conducted on arrivals to air and sea ports, despite the fact that Spain's last published official notification only covers land borders.
Hungary's controls for all borders are set to expire on this day. As of April 14, PolGeoNow has not received news of an extension, and none has been published on the Schengen website, though it seems likely that they will be extended.
April 12, 2020
Switzerland extends all its border controls for 20 more days, until May 2. Controls for the land border with Italy had been set to expire on this day, while others had been scheduled to last until later dates in April. There are still no controls for arrival by land or air from Liechtenstein.
April 13, 2020
Lithuania's controls on all borders are extended two more weeks.
Poland's controls on all borders are extended 20 more days according to reports, though the official notification has not yet been published on the Schengen website.
April 14, 2020
Slovakia's government reported that it was extending its border controls on all borders until May 7, including at the land border with Poland and at international airports. PolGeoNow had not received any prior news of Slovak controls at the border with Poland, and there are no public passenger flights into Poland until at least April 16. There has still not yet been any official notification published for Slovakia's border controls on the Schengen website at any point during the coronavirus outbreak, despite the country having announced controls to the public from March 13.
Changes to the Map
Though most of the above-listed events only involve time extensions for the various border controls already shown on our map, they also include the following significant map changes from last time:- Poland's border controls have been registered with the EU, indicated by red on the map. In the previous edition they had been marked as yellow because the official notification had not yet been published. Although yesterday's extension has also not yet been published on the EU's Schengen website, we have chosen this time to keep them in red under the very likely assumption that the new notification is currently being processed.
- Austria has expanded its border controls to include the country's land borders with Czechia and Slovakia.
- Hungary's controls expired several days ago, and we have not been able to find any confirmation that they were extended, even from news media and government sources, so we have removed them from the map for now.
- Slovakia's border controls, which have still never been published on the Schengen website, have reportedly been expanded to include the border with Poland (as well as arrivals by air, though for now no public flights into the country are allowed anyway).
Following this story? You can always check for updates by viewing all Schengen Area border control articles on PolGeoNow.
Related Articles:
Which Countries Are in the Schengen Area, and Which EU Countries Aren't?
Map of Temporary Schengen Border Controls in March 2016
Map of Temporary Schengen Border Controls in August 2016
Map of Temporary Schengen Border Controls in February 2017
Map of Temporary Schengen Border Controls in August 2017
Map of Temporary Schengen Border Controls Just Before Coronavirus