The checks which Croatia had introduced at some border crossings with Slovenia over the novel coronavirus are ineffective and economically harmful, outgoing Slovenian Prime Minister, Marjan Sarec, warned on Thursday.
Checks have been introduced at a number of border crossings with Slovenia, with Croatian border police asking passengers if they had come from of stayed in regions hit by the coronavirus.
Sarec criticised the measure, saying it was not efficient, “since passengers cannot be trusted to be completely honest about where they are coming from.” He also said that those instructed by the police to take a swab test must wait several hours for the results, which causes traffic gridlock.
The conduct of Croatian services on Thursday morning caused long lines of cars on the Slovenian side of the border all the way to (the eastern Slovenian town of) Brezice, Sarec said, warning that such controls could cause economic damage as well.
Slovenian traffic services reported on Thursday that trucks had to wait for around six hours on the Slovenian side of the Bregana border crossing, one of the busiest crossings between the two countries.
Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic, however, said on Thursday that the measures Croatia put in place on the border are beneficial both for Croatia and Slovenia.
“We have a reason for stepping up preventive measures on the border… we are taking steps we believe are necessary at the moment,” Plenkovic said, adding that Croatia was not trying to cause panic by introducing the measures, but was instead acting to protect public health.
Three cases of coronavirus were confirmed in Croatia so far, two in Zagreb and one in the northern Adriatic city of Rijeka. So far, no cases were reported in Slovenia.
Experts from the European Commission have said earlier on Thursday that blocking movement within the EU for persons who have symptoms of the coronavirus would be counterproductive, adding that quarantine is a better option.
For now, EU and Schengen area members are not planning to introduce border controls, the European Commission spokeswoman told reporters on Thursday.
