ZAGREB, 6 February, 2021 - Coronavirus figures in Croatia are still good, but we should not delude ourselves that the virus has disappeared, the head of the national coronavirus response team, Interior Minister Davor Božinović, told Croatian Radio in an interview on Saturday.
This infection is affecting every corner of the globe and all countries have the same priority - to protect human lives and enable the functioning of the economy, Božinović said.
"It's a fact that Croatia has the least strict measures in place in the EU, yet we are managing to bring the figures down. Our aim is to bring them down to such an extent that we can say that everything is under control. We are preparing for the time of year that is crucial for the Croatian economy, and that is the tourist season," Božinović said.
He said that everything had been done to avoid a lockdown, but after some businesses were closed, the number of infections had begun to decline and was still declining.
"If this trend continues, if we see even larger decreases, we will certainly not waste time to modify the measures" so that businesses, such as cafes and restaurants, that are now closed can reopen, he added.
Božinović said that the government was considering easing the restrictions before the tourist season. "I cannot say when that will happen. It's not a question of if but when."
He assessed that six months from now the situation would look much better than it did today, because the virus would be spreading to a lesser extent due to warmer weather and vaccination.
"Vaccination is now going a little more slowly, but I think it will intensify already this month and in particular next month. In the second quarter we will certainly have enough doses to put the epidemic under control. I am optimistic in that regard," Božinović said.
Božinović was asked to comment on an incident that happened last weekend, when Italian members of the European Parliament unofficially arrived at the Croatia-Bosnia border with the aim of crossing it illegally and were stopped by Croatian police. One of the MEPs said it was not true they intended to cross the border illegally.
"We have a note from the Italian Embassy saying that they wanted to go the village of Bojna and continue to Velika Kladuša (northwestern Bosnia and Herzegovina). This is the area where the border can be crossed only illegally," he said.
He added that the Italian MEPs "probably thought that their colleagues from the Croatian SDP were more influential here and would kick up a fuss about it."
"This, of course, turned out to be a wrong move for our colleagues as well, who did not even ask us what happened, but put their confidence in the statements made by the MEPs who were here privately," Božinović said.
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