International Media Confusion (Again) as Croatia Opens Its Borders to EU Citizens

June 15, 2020 – As Europe opens many of its internal borders, more international media confusion about the situation on Croatia’s borders.

The day has finally arrived.

June 15, 2020, the day we have all been waiting for. The day when the EU was planning to announce it is reopening its internal borders.

I have a busy day of meetings, so I decided to wake up early to publish the official confirmation, as well as update the TCN daily travel update, which is also available in 24 languages.

Incredibly, I can’t find an official confirmation anywhere, and I have looked really hard.

The international media confusion continues as a result, with many outlets reporting that most EU borders are now open, and Austria will be from tomorrow, leaving the drive across Europe to Croatia now relatively free. My impression is that Croatia’s borders are now completely open to EU citizens, which is also the understanding of some, but not all of the international media. Here is a selection:

Euronews

Croatia

Croatia will reopen its borders to all EU citizens, including from the UK, on June 15, with no obligation to quarantine.

Croatia opened its borders in mid-May without restriction to nationals from the Czech Republic, Hungary, Austria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Slovenia, Germany and Slovakia.

Other visitors from the EU/EEA, and the UK, could also visit from May 11, though restrictions were in place, including quarantine and proof of accommodation.

Forbes

Croatia

The country opened its borders in mid-May without restriction to nationals from the Czech Republic, Hungary, Austria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Slovenia, Germany and Slovakia.

Croatia will reopen to the rest of the E.U. and to U.K. citizens on June 15, with no obligation to quarantine. All arrivals should fill out a form online in advance and proof of a tourist accommodation booking is required on entry.

Parks, beaches, shops, museums, hotels and outdoor restaurants and bars are open, public transport is operating as well, as are some international and domestic flights. International flights are expected to increase throughout June.

(TCN comment – Although I respect Forbes very much, this does not make a lot of sense. Croatia has been open to EU citizens with proof of paid accommodation for weeks, with no quarantine requirement. If Croatia reopens its border to the rest of the EU and UK, that means that the borders are open, with no need for proof of paid accommodation. It is not the fault of Forbes here, just the astounding lack of clear communication from the tourism chiefs).

Politico

Croatia

Are the borders open? Yes. In an effort to get the tourism sector moving again, travelers from Austria, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Germany, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia are allowed in without conditions, though the government says it will collect contact data. Nationals of other EU countries will have to show they have a good reason, although an accommodation booking will be sufficient.

Do arrivals have to quarantine? No, unless they have symptoms.

(TCN comment – Again, if the borders are fully open to all 31 EU/EEA countries, there should be no need for proof of accommodation. The situation described by Politico is the situation last week, and if this is the situation today, this means nothing has changed).

Interestingly, the New York Times wrote a comprehensive article on EU borders reopening, looking at a dozen individual countries, but did not mention Croatia at all. Presumably it was too hard to fact check the situation with no official information.

I expect the situation to be clarified today, but my current advice would be to have proof of paid accommodation and fill in the entercroatia.mup.hr form.

07:00 Update – I checked with an official at the ministry who told me that the National Civil Protection Headquarters would make the decision today.

So who is flying? Again, it is hard to find the information, so I checked with the airport arrivals pages of Croatia’s main airports, as well as this month’s schedule of Croatia Airlines.

Zagreb is the busiest airport, with Croatia Airlines connecting the Croatian capital with a number of European cities.

More flights tomorrow, including a direct flight from Dublin, as well as Air Serbia from Belgrade.

Dubrovnik is fairly quiet, with Riga the only advertised international connection in the next two days on the arrivals board.

Zadar is welcoming domestic flights only it seems.

And Pula has just the one flight from Zagreb today.

Not so many flights to Split either, but something of a surprise – a direct flight to the UK with Wizzair from London Luton.

I went to the Wizzair site to see if it was really happening, and it appears to be. With tickets still available. So if you feel like spending the night in Split tonight, book your ticket and come.

I suspect all this confusion will clear up in the next 24 hours. If, as I suspect, Croatia’s borders are fully open to EU/EEA citizens, then the paid accommodation requirement should no longer be valid.

Compare these flights with Athens Airport today. Greece sent a very clear message that it would be opening for tourism today. In addition to dozens of domestic flights to its islands and other destinations, Athens will be welcoming flights from Frankfurt, Liege, Paris, Bucharest (2), Doha (2), Amsterdam, Rome, Vienna (2), Munich, Larnaca (2), Sofia, Tirana, London (2), and Milan.

For the latest updates, follow the TCN daily Croatia Travel Update, or join the Total Croatia Travel INFO Viber community and have your questions answered in real time.