ZAGREB, 26 Nov 2021 - Croatia's COVID-19 crisis management team decided to impose a 14-day quarantine and mandatory testing for Croats returning from South Africa, Botswana, Lesoto, Namibia, Zimbabwe and Congo, and to ban arrivals of foreigners from those countries, Interior Minister Davor Božinović said on Friday.

The ban and restrictions are in line with the European Commission's recommendations to all European Union member states following the appearance of a new variant of coronavirus in South Africa.

Brussels is mulling EU-wide flight restrictions due to concerns over the new COVID-19 variant.

The head of Zagreb's Infectious Diseases Hospital, Alemka Markotić, informed the news conference about studies showing that the new variant had not yet been detected outside Africa.

The head of the Croatian Institute of Public Health (HZJZ), Krunoslav Capak, said that it was still to early to predict the rate of the spread of that variant of the virus, having in mind the fact that the vaccination rate in southern African regions is below 10%.

Božinović told the news conference that European Union member states have to date issued 650 million COVID certificates, and currently talks are being conducted on the period of the certificate's validity after full vaccination.

The European Commission on Thursday updated its rules on the validity of EU Digital COVID Certificates for a period of 9 months since the primary vaccination series. The Commission presented draft recommendations for safe and free movement in the EU which should take effect as of 10 January next year.

Capak: The vaccinated transmit the virus to a lesser extent

Capak warned about misinterpretations of scientific papers concerning the COVID-19 pandemic.

If one reads a scientific paper, they should also be able to interpret it correctly. A vaccinated individual can contract the virus and develop symptoms, however, the vaccinated get sick to a much lesser extent. It has been also proven that the viral load of SARS-CoV-2 in their nose quickly lessens, Capak said, adding that vaccines provide a high level of protection against serious illness and death.

Also, the instances of the virus breaking into healthcare institutions are rarer now than in the first waves before the vaccination rollout.

For more news on travel, CLICK HERE.

ZAGREB, June 28, 2020 - There are 350,000 foreign guests in Croatia at the moment, which is a rarity not only in Europe, the head of the national COVID-19 crisis response team, Interior Minister Davor Bozinovic, said in Novska on Sunday.

He was responding to questions from the press about the recent spread of the novel coronavirus and the possibility of more rigorous restrictions.

"The important thing is that there are no graver symptoms at the moment, nobody is on a ventilator yet, but we are following and analysing the situation daily," Bozinovic said.

Speaking of the hotspot in Djakovo, he said epidemiologists were keeping the situation under control and that they had not requested stricter measures.

He reiterated that the crisis response team had decided that inspectors should visit night clubs to see if instructions were being adhered to and that, if necessary, other measures would be taken.

He said the team was proposing that all travel abroad that was not necessary be postponed so that the situation could be put under control, adding that this did not refer only to Bosnia and Herzegovina but other neighbours too.

Bozinovic would not comment on a recommendation from Brussels to allow the free flow of passengers between the EU and 15 third countries, including Serbia and Montenegro, as of July 1, saying a decision on that was still being discussed.

He was in Novska to visit the PISMO business incubator. He said the government would help the development of new technologies and that by investing in the local gaming industry, it would help the town become a regional gaming centre.

He said the gaming industry "exports 99% of its products" and that it was profitable "in every sense."

Mayor Marin Piletic said PISMO was the only business incubator in Croatia specialising in video games. "To date HRK 25 million has been invested in the project and about 30 companies developing games operate in the incubator."

(€1 = HRK 7.57)

ZAGREB, June 17, 2020 - The European Commission has approved a three-year extension of a moratorium on the sale of Croatian farmland to foreigners, the Agriculture Ministry said on Wednesday.

The Commission on Tuesday adopted a decision prolonging the transitional period during which EU citizens cannot buy farmland in Croatia.

The decision ensures an additional period that should be used to fully exploit the agricultural potential by restoring as much farmland as possible to production use, the ministry said.

It recalled that in the EU accession treaty, Croatia was given a seven-year transitional period during which the sale of farmland to other member states' citizens was banned.

Said period, which ends this month, was instituted to prevent a rise in farmland prices upon Croatia's EU accession which could occur due to the higher purchasing power of some member states' citizens, the ministry said.

That would make it more difficult for Croatian farmers to buy farmland and slow down the necessary restructuring of the agricultural sector, it added.

The accession treaty envisages the possibility of a three-year extension of the transitional period if it transpires that Croatia's farmland market is still not stable enough and if the risk remains that prices could increase considerably in the event of its opening to foreigners, the ministry said.

Last year, the ministry added, it prepared a request to the Commission, including analyses, which confirms that the farmland market is not ready for full liberalisation, and an extension of the transitional period was requested to protect the interests of Croatia's agriculture.