The opposition Democratic Coalition (DK) is calling on the government to start rolling out the European Union’s new digital Covid-19 certificate as early as Wednesday. Addressing a press conference, DK MEP Klára Dobrev cited the prime minister’s chief of staff as saying last week that the EU’s Covid certificate would be introduced in Hungary on July 1. Gergely Gulyás, she said, had promised the launch of a government information campaign on the travel certificates, “but there’s no sign of any campaign or any preparations for one”. EU countries will begin rolling out the new digital travel certificates on July 1, Dobrev said, adding that “because of [Prime Minister Viktor] Orbán’s failure to launch the document, Hungarians will once again be at a disadvantage.”
Travelling to most western European countries “will be very problematic and expensive” without the EU certificate, she said, arguing that those looking to enter a western member state without an EU Covid passport will have to present a PCR test or self-isolate upon arrival. Dobrev, who is also DK’s prime ministerial candidate, said a solution also needed to be found for the 2 million Hungarians who received eastern Covid vaccines, noting that those jabs had not been approved by the EU.