Minister of Foreign Affairs of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bisera Turkovic, on the occasion of the information that passengers from Bosnia and Herzegovina were prevented from crossing the Doljani border crossing on June 28, 2020 through the Republic of Croatia to Neum, made the following statement:
“Referring to the information and the fact that the citizens of BiH are prevented from even transit through Croatia, it is indisputable that the ministry I am heading will propose reciprocity today, the first following working day. Namely, I am of the opinion that it is an indisputable fact that Croatia, as an EU member, must respect common positions, but I do not agree with the fact that our citizens are also prohibited from transiting through Croatia. This is as soon as possible because Croatia has a much larger number of newly infected with the Coronavirus, and significantly fewer tests are being conducted. I do not know why Croatia decided on such measures, but we know our positive attitude towards all countries in the region when it comes to tourism, business travel and trade opportunities in times that were unknown to us until yesterday, and that is the time pandemic,” was announced from the office of Bisera Turkovic.
SOme days ago, it was decided that citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Kosovo and Northern Macedonia will not be able to enter Croatia without 14-day self-isolation, even when they have a fresh negative test for coronavirus or PCR test, Klix.banews portal reports.
This was the response of the Minister of Health of Croatia, Vilija Beros: “We are monitoring the epidemiological situation in neighboring countries and we have applied certain measures. Self-isolation is justified. I think I cannot enter with a negative test because it does not mean that you will be negative tomorrow,” Beros told Dnevnik Nova TV.
Apart from the brief decision, the Croatian institutions did not publish a more detailed statement regarding the information on mandatory self-isolation for the citizens of the four countries, so some officials gave statements to the media, giving very brief information.
Regarding the information in Bosnian media that citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina are prohibited from transiting through the Republic of Croatia at the Doljani Border Crossing to the city of Neum, located in BiH, N1 requested information from the Ministry of the Interior of the Republic of Croatia on Sunday, from which they pointed out that such allegations do not stand with additional clarification.
“We allow BiH citizens to transit through the Republic of Croatia with a document which must prove that they will be allowed to enter the countries of final destination” – stated the Ministry of the Interior of the Republic of Croatia. As an explanation of what was stated for N1, the Ministry of the Interior cites the example of a wife who visits a spouse who is working in Germany.
“In that case, she should have a marriage certificate with her as a certificate of kinship, and a certificate of residence permit from her spouse, as proof of the address where she will stay. Copies are also recognized, and transit will be allowed with these two documents” – they explained.
“If someone leaves BiH and goes further towards Neum, transit through the Republic of Croatia is allowed,” the Croatian Ministry of the Interior emphasized.
