Having all of its active cases cured, Montenegro has officially become the first European country to declare itself coronavirus free, according to a statement by the Institute for Public Health (IPH) on May 25.

"In the days ahead, responsible behavior and shared health care will be our trump card to continue to be proud holders of the title of 'corona free' state that has shown that it knows how to face and fight a dangerous enemy that has conquered the entire planet," the country's health minister Kenan Hrapovic announced. Montenegro was reportedly the last country to confirm coronavirus infections in Southeast Europe, but imposed tough restrictions several days before the outbreak. The country had reported a total of 324 cases and 9 deaths. "The day has come and we have no more cases and we can say that we are a country where nobody is infected with coronavirus," said Boban Mugosa, the director of the Institute of Public Health.

Covid-19 has claimed the lives of more than 347950 people and infected over 5591970 people across the world. The virus was first identified in Wuhan, Hubei Province, in China. As the death toll and overall cases began rising rapidly across the world, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared a global health emergency and the outbreak has now been labelled a pandemic.