Deputies are moving forward the issues and difficulties of couples split by the EU travel ban

A assembly of members of the European Parliament wrote an open letter to German Interior Minister Horst Seehofer discussing the questions of binational couples who have been divided for months by the EU-wide travel ban as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.

The letter is also addressed to the Swedish EU Commissioner for the Interior, Ylva Johansson, who recently tweeted a vocal campaign undertaken under the hashtags '#LoveIsNotTourism & #LoveIsEssential' in support of a separate couple on social media.

I want to specifically answer and support the deeply dedicated and significant #LoveIsEssential movement. I advise the authorities of the Member States and in particular, the travel companies to apply the broadest possible concept of partnerships. The spouse or 'treasure' with whom the Union citizen or the rightful resident has a permanent relationship that has been duly verified should not be listed as an important journey if exempted from EU travel restrictions. In der Tat! #loveisessential "Tweeted the Commissioner.

Johanssons' appeal was endorsed by many, which then forced the deputies to take a meaningful move by asking the German Minister of the Interior to give unmarried couples in a stable relationship the opportunity to fly to Germany to meet with their partners and to advance this topic in the EU Council.

While we welcome the recent lifting of internal border controls, we are very concerned that travel restrictions on external borders are still dividing families and relatives. Many binational couples who are not married or whose same-sex marriage certificate is not recognized have had no chance to see each other for months," the letter states, in which further stories of couples who remain separated because of the travel ban are listed."

We have got so many tragic e-mails from separated couples:

While MEPs fully support a concerted strategy by the EU Commission and Member States to lift the EU-wide ban on entry, they also call on the Minister and Germany's willingness to ensure that unmarried couples will reunite the Presidency of the EU Council.

"Traveling out of love is not tourism," says the message.

In addition, MEPs also remind the Minister that Article 2(2) and Article 3(2) of Directive 2004/38/EC, in which couples define a long-term relationship as a family, should allow unmarried partners to join the EU in a stable relationship on the basis of which the majority of Member States are family members of EU citizens.

Denmark is currently the only EU member state to completely comply with this article. This letter urgently advises that it be included in the remaining Member States.

The letter was signed by several members of the EU Parliament, including Erik MARQUARDT of the Greens, who described border separation as a "pain in this difficult time" for all the couples concerned.

The letter was also signed by Austrian politician Andreas Schieder, who had previously signed and applied for a petition sent to the Austrian government to repeal the entry ban for binational couples.

Both married or not, couples must be able to see themselves again. Now that international air traffic is resuming, an acceptable solution with consideration is needed. If there are no excuses why citizens living in Austria are not permitted to enter the country due to strict hygiene regulations such as a 14-day quarantine or a health certificate, there is so much suffering during the pandemic, so it is now the duty of the Foreign Ministry to offer a perspective to loving couples," Schieder said, signing the petition."

Previously, SchengenVisaInfo.com had written on the difficulties that the ban had brought to binational couples, causing many of the couples to delay their weddings and holding them apart for months.