ZAGREB, May 29, 2020 – A Croatian Member of the European Parliament and Deputy Leader of the Istrian Democratic Party (IDS) Valter Flego on Friday reacted to a decision by Austria not to include Croatia among safe countries for its citizens to travel to, saying that this was un-European and discriminatory.
“Our country is among those countries in Europe and the world with the best epidemiological situation. Each day we are drawing closer to being corona-free however, it is not on the list of safe countries where Austrian citizens may spend their annual vacation as of mid-June, which I consider to be incomprehensible,” said Flego.
He considers that the Austrian government’s decision “is simply not in the European spirit – it is discriminatory and in no way solidary and it is illogical.”
On the one hand, he underscored, the European Commission is proposing a record large budget to bail out the European economy and on the other hand member states are sabotaging each other and putting up obstacles.
“We must not allow politicking about the tourism season. We know where politics belongs and where not,” said the Croatian MEP
Flego together with two Slovenian MEPs Irena Joveva and Klement Gorselj sent a letter to the European Commission and they expect an urgent response from the EC President Ursula von der Leyen. They also sent a copy of the correspondence to Croatia’s Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic, Interior Minister Davor Bozinovic and Tourism Minister Gari Cappelli.
