New rules entering Croatia come into effect on July 1

New rules came into effect at midnight (Photo credit: Mario Žamić/CC license)

ZAGREB, 1 July 2020 – New rules regarding entering Croatia have come into effect.

From midnight, all EU / EEA citizens and permanent residents in the EU / EEA, as well as the United Kingdom, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, Switzerland, Andorra, Monaco, San Marino and the Vatican, are free to enter Croatia without any restrictions, the Ministry of Interior stated. 

There is also no requirement for visitors to self-isolate upon entering. 

In late May, Croatia allowed citizens from only 10 EU countries to enter with no restrictions or having to prove the reason for visiting. Those countries were the Czech Republic, Hungary, Austria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Slovenia, Germany and Slovakia. 

It is still valid for all visitors coming into Croatia to fill in the form on the Enter Croatia website to announce their arrival in order to cross the border faster and also in order for authorities to potentially monitor contacts in case of infection. 

All other foreign nationals outside the EU / EEA can enter Croatia for business or tourist reasons (with paid accommodation reservation).

The European Commission has decided that from 1 July, all member states will open borders for citizens of 15 countries that are considered safe. These countries are:

Algeria

Australia

Montenegro

Georgia 

Japan

South Korea

Canada 

China (provided that China lifts restrictions on EU citizens)

Morocco

New Zealand

Rwanda

Serbia

Thailand 

Tunis

Uruguay 

Croatia has also added Bosnia and Herzegovina to the list.

The list of countries will be revised every two weeks, according to epidemiological criteria. These criteria are:

• The number of new COVID-19 cases in the last 14 days and per 100,000 inhabitants will be around or below the EU average (as of 15 June 2020)
• A stable or downward trend of new cases in this period, compared to the previous 14 days
• The overall response to COVID-19, including testing, surveillance, contact monitoring, infection retention, treatment and reporting, and the reliability of the information required.