No Problems at Croatian Border Despite Midnight Red List Deadline

STA, 24 August 2020 - Entry into Slovenia from Croatia has continued to run unexpectedly smoothly despite the approaching Monday midnight deadline for returns without compulsory quarantine due to rising Covid-19 figures in Croatia. Interior Minister Aleš Hojs assessed that the returns got dispersed across the past week and that some also opted for quarantine.

The Slovenian police said that traffic on the border had been comparable to previous end of August or even calmer; there were no delays at border crossings in the afternoon.

"There has probably been no excessive pressure on the border crossings because we already started announcing the possibly of Croatia being red-listed the weekend before the last one," Hojs told the STA today.

The minister also suggested that some, although not those tied to school or work, had decided to continue their holiday and accept quarantine after it ends.

He moreover said it was very possible that the estimate of 150,000 Slovenians holidaying in the neighbouring country had been exaggerated.

The ministry does not have the exact data, but estimates now suggest around 50,000, whereas the Croatian Tourism Board put its estimate at 45,000.

Hojs added that police teams on the border had been reinforced and that the issuing of quarantine orders was running smoothly, with the average time to issue one standing at 12 to 14 minutes.

He said more than 800 quarantine orders had been issued on Sunday to passengers who were returning from red-listed countries such as Serbia and Bosnia-Herzegovina.

The Croatian Tourist Board has reported that 2.6 million overnight stays by Slovenian tourists were recorded in Croatia from 1 to 23 August, which is 94% of last-year's figure. The Slovenian tourists mostly opted for private accommodation and camping, while 20,000 also stayed in a hotel.