slovenia has become the first European country to declare an official end to its corona virus epidemic, as it lifts some of the border controls put in place during the outbreak.

The nation's government believes the disease has been brought under control after health authorities confirmed fewer than seven new coronavirus cases each day for the past two weeks.

Prime minister Janez Jansa told the country’s parliament: “Slovenia has tamed the epidemic over the past two months ... Today Slovenia has the best epidemiologic picture in Europe.”

People now arriving in Slovenia from other european union states will no longer be obliged to go into a quarantine for at least seven days, as had been the case from early April.

A quarantine of at least 14 days will remain in place for people from non-EU states, except for some exemptions including diplomats and people transporting cargo. Any foreign citizens who show signs of infection will still not be allowed to enter the country.

Martial law was imposed in Ukraine for 30 days as president Petro Poroshenko warned of the “extremely serious” threat of a Russian land invasion.

The parliament voted in favour of the measure on Monday night in response to the capture of three Ukrainian navy vessels and twenty-three crew members by Russian ships near the Kerch Strait.

Russia’s actions were also condemned at emergency meeting of the United Nations Security Council, where US representative Nikki Haley described the incident as an “outrageous violation of sovereign Ukrainian territory.”