Bozinovic: Austrian tourists are coming to Croatia

Croatia is open to Austrian tourists, they know that and they are coming, Interior Minister Davor Bozinovic said on Friday.

"At the moment, in addition to Slovenians, Austrians are our most frequent visitors. Croatia is open in that regard, Austrians know that and are coming," Bozinovic said after a video conference of European Union interior ministers.

This week Austria lifted all restrictions on border crossings with neighbouring countries except with Italy, while travel to Croatia has still not been officially approved. Austria's Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg has announced that a decision in that regard would be made next week.

"I think that Croatia is so well recognised, so attractive and so well perceived by our neighbours and members of the European Union that I do not see what will prevent them from coming to Croatia," said Bozinovic and added that Zagreb is currently conducting bilateral talks with Vienna.

He said that the video conference showed that there is political will at the ministerial level within the EU for the internal borders to be reopened after June 15, but that the epidemiological situation needs to be monitored because the pandemic is not in the same phase in all countries.

As far as the EU's external borders are concerned, Bozinovic underlined that a coordinated approach would be taken in that regard "considering that the COVID-19 disease is very intensive in various parts of the world," however an exception can always be made for those countries that have a positive epidemiological situation, particularly in the closer European neighbourhood.

Text: Hina

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