Interior Minister Davor Bozinovic said on Thursday that Croatia was not considering new COVID-19 measures for the Christmas and New Year's holidays, noting that Croatia wanted to remain open.

“We are not considering new measures for Christmas and the New Year because our numbers have been falling for a couple of weeks now,” Bozinovic told the RTL commercial television channel. “With the anti-epidemic measures being implemented, our aim is for Croatia to remain open, unlike the vast majority of European Union member states,” he added.

Commenting on the position of President Zoran Milanovic on the measures by the national COVID-19 management team, which is headed by Bozinovic, and the checking of COVID passes in the President’s Office, Bozinovic said that all staff at the President’s Office had been vaccinated and that the president himself had received three doses of a COVID-19 vaccine.

“That shows that he understands that this is a serious health threat and that people should be protected, and there is no better protection than the vaccine. It is quite clear from all studies and statistics, in countries where more people have been vaccinated fewer people have died,” Bozinovic said.

Asked if and when a third vaccine dose would mean the unlimited validity of COVID passes, Bozinovic said that this issue would remain open as long as there was no relevant proof of the duration of the booster dose.