Slovenia tightens border for people arriving from Croatia as of Saturday

ZAGREB, July 4 (Hina) – Slovenia’s Interior Minister Ales Hojs on Friday confirmed Croatia was demoted from the green list to the yellow list of less safe epidemiological countries which means tighter controls upon entering Slovenia.

Hojs explained that this was decided because of the deteriorated epidemiological situation in Croatia, primarily because Slovenian citizens or people with permanent residency in that country who had been deceiving authorities upon returning to that country.

“Every move of a country on the green to the yellow list or visa versa is related to the concrete epidemiological situation,” Hojs said and added that Croatia had already crossed the criteria of 10 new cases per 100,000 capita a day over the past 14 days.

A special regime for those on the yellow list which now includes Croatia, the Czech Republic and France means that people entering from those countries have to go into a 14-day quarantine with the exception of cross-border workers, tourists with confirmed bookings, health workers, emergency situations such as funerals or holders of diplomatic passports and the like.

Hojs underscored that he believes that if Croatia takes the necessary steps and curbs the spread of the infection it could very quickly be put back on the green list of safe countries.

“I believe that Croatia will very quickly control the situation and be put back in the green zone,” said Hojs.

People transiting through Slovenia without stopping from destinations on the yellow list need to produce a COVID-19 negative test no older than 36 hours.

Hojs said that the regime has been tightened because some Slovenian citizens who transited through Croatia had actually spent time in Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo or some other country currently on the red list of unsafe countries considered to be high risk and in order to avoid quarantine did not report where they had actually been which has led to an increase in the number of infections in Slovenia which is currently recording double-digit numbers of new cases.

As of midnight Saturday, Slovenians coming from Croatia have to present evidence of where they had been in Croatia and that they had not been anywhere else.

Anyone who spent time in countries on the red list will have to enter Slovenia at 4 designated border crossings where they will be issued with orders for mandatory quarantine.

The four border crossings in question are Gruskovje/Macelj, Obrezje/ Bregana, Metlika/Jurovski Brod and Jelsane/Rupa. Quarantine orders will also be issued at Brnik airport and at the Pince crossing with Hungary.

Hojs said that border police would also be checking documents at all other border crossings with Croatia and if they suspect any possible breach, those passengers will be diverted to one of the four crossings where they will be ordered to go into a 14-day quarantine.