Fewer exemptions for entry into Slovenia
Ljubljana, 24 December - The government has shortened the list of exemptions allowing people from red-listed countries to enter Slovenia without having to quarantine or produce a negative PCR coronavirus test. Moreover, in terms of classification, the green and orange lists will have been scrapped on Friday, as entry from low-risk countries is considered safe.
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Information Commissioner looking into new police powers related to Covid-19.
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The Government Communication Office (UKOM) said in a press release Wednesday evening that the government has shrunk the list of exemptions down to seven. The changes will take effect on Friday.
Daily commuters who work in an EU or Schengen country will still be able to cross the border without having to quarantine or produce a negative test if they return to Slovenia within 14 hours.
People working in transport and logistics are also exempt from the quarantine rule, with hauliers obligated to pass through the country within eight hours.
Persons passing through the country may also enter without quarantine or a negative test, but must exit the country again in a maximum of six hours.
Foreign security officers (police or justice department officers) may also enter the country without restrictions but must leave immediately after completing their official business.
An exemption is also in place for persons transported into the country by paramedics and the accompanying staff.
Holders of diplomatic passports may also enter the country without restrictions.
The government has scrapped exemptions applying to those having to cross the border due to education, for urgent business reasons, for a scheduled medical procedure, owners of land across the border, those with close family members across the border and for access to services which are closer to one's home across the border than within Slovenia.
The government also simplified the classification of countries by risk, abolishing the green and orange lists of low-risk countries. This means that entry from countries or administrative units not listed as red is unrestricted.
The government updated the red list, which continues to include all EU member states, including all four of Slovenia's neighbouring countries.
The only parts of the EU not on the list are individual administrative units: Finnish Uusimaa, the Subcarpathian region in Poland, Madeira in Portugal, France's Brittany and Corsica, the Greek island of Crete and islands of the South Aegean.
While a majority of Norway is not on the red list, travel is restricted from the administrative units of Oslo and Viken.
The red list also includes virtually all non-EU members in Slovenia's proximity, including Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Montenegro, Kosovo, North Macedonia and Serbia.
Canada, Russia, Turkey, Ukraine and the US are also on the red list, UKOM said.