Croatian police have tightened controls on the borders with Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia following new cases of coronavirus infection originating from the two countries, Interior Minister Davor Bozinovic said on Friday.

Bozinovic, who heads the national coronavirus crisis management team, told Jutarnji List daily that tighter border controls had been imposed on Thursday.

“Anyone wishing to enter Croatia must state their reason for travel and present a supporting document to that effect, for example, that it is in the economic interest of our country,” Bozinovic said.

He noted that Croatia had never fully opened its borders to Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina as it had to ten EU countries which have a good epidemiological situation.

Jutarnji List said that in the last two days travellers from Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina who wanted to enter Croatia without reason backed up by proper documentation had been turned back.

Stricter border controls were imposed because most of the new coronavirus cases identified in Croatia in the last week were connected with the two countries.

Bozinovic said that the situation in Croatia would not escalate because epidemiologists had traced most of the infected people and established the source of the infection.