As of May 29 Croatia will open its borders for Slovak, Czech, Hungarian and Austrian citizens, Tourism Minister Gari Cappelli said on Wednesday.

Cappelli made the statement after a video conference with his counterparts in the EU, and this was the second such meeting in the past month as part of Croatia’s EU presidency of the Council of the EU.

Cappelli said that a similar epidemiological situation existed in certain countries and that bilateral agreements would be discussed on the principle of non-discrimination in reference to opening the border.

“We have an agreement with Slovenia and that is functioning as a start,” Cappelli said and announced that the same would be conducted on May 29 for four to five more countries, adding that details were still being discussed with Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Hungary and Austria.

“So that citizens from those countries can, for business reasons, owners of properties, vessels and so on, come to Croatia similar to Slovenians and without having to be in quarantine,” Cappelli explained.

Croatia is preparing an application to facilitate traffic at border crossings.

Opening up towards those countries in Central Europe, along with Germany and later Poland, Croatia will round off more than 60% of its total tourism turnover, Cappelli noted, adding that later Croatia could perhaps expect guests from Italy.

He added that all countries agreed that bilateral agreements be concluded on tourist arrivals and that most EU member states have announced relaxing restrictions in tourism and hospitality by June 15.