The European Commission has decided to exempt the countries of the Western Balkans from the restrictions on the export of protective masks as of April 26, MIA’s Brussels correspondent reports.

The bloc’s current restrictions apply to protective equipment that can only be exported to a non-EU country with an authorization granted by individual EU countries. The restrictions were due to run from March 15 to April 25.

The foreign ministers of six western Balkan countries have urged Brussels to exempt their countries from EU export restrictions on medical protective equipment.

The controls would only in future apply for masks as these were the only category of protective equipment for which export authorization was deemed necessary to secure an adequate supply for Europeans.

The new regulation is set out to apply for a limited period of 30 days (as of 26 April 2020), and it covers one single product category, protective masks.