Slovenia opening border with Italy on 15 June
Ljubljana, 12 June - Slovenia will open its border with Italy on Monday, but at the same time it will impose stricter rules for arrivals from some countries where the coronavirus epidemic is in full swing, according to government decrees adopted on Friday.
Dragonja
The Dragonja crossing on the Slovenian-Croatian border.
Photo: Daniel Novakovič/STA
Both Slovenian and Italian citizens will be allowed to cross what is the EU's internal border at any point along the border line, whereas other citizens will have to cross at the four designated checkpoints that have been used throughout the coronavirus epidemic.
This is after the government put Italy on a list of countries whose citizens are free to cross into Slovenia without having to quarantine, effective on 15 June; residents of the bordering Friuli Venezia-Giulia region are free to cross sooner, as of 13 June.
Montenegro has also made it to the list compiled by the National Institute of Public Health (NIJZ) based on an assessment of their epidemiological situation, which now includes 19 countries, mostly members of the EU.
On the other hand, the NIJZ drew up a list of 32 countries whose epidemiological situation is so bad travellers coming from there must undergo a mandatory 14-day quarantine regardless of nationality or residence status effective on 13 June, in what marks a tightening of restrictions for these countries.
Notable countries on this list include European countries Sweden, the UK and North Macedonia, as well as the United States, Russia and several South American and Asian countries.
There are six exemptions to the quarantine requirement, including hauliers, those in transit who leave the country within 24 hours, diplomats and persons performing emergency services.
Meanwhile, on the border with Croatia, which is the Schengen border, local crossings which had been shut down at the start of the epidemic will reopen on 15 June, based on an agreement between the governments of Slovenia and Croatia.
The move is bound to alleviate congestion at major crossings, which have seen long waiting lines as tourists from the north of Europe make their way to Croatia for their summer holidays.
It will also make life easy for locals living in border areas, who have sometimes had to take long detours to reach land or go to work on the other side of the border.