February the 22nd, 2021 - Is Croatia planning Covid passport introduction in order to facilitate a less stressful summer tourist season for this year? The move would see the country have a more stable situation and a desperately needed boost from its strongest economic branch.
As Poslovni Dnevnik/Marija Crnjak writes, Croatia is working on bilateral agreements to facilitate the crossing of its borders for those vaccinated against the novel coronavirus without the need to present a negative PCR test, in order to facilitate easier traffic during the tourist season, Davor Bozinovic, head of the National Civil Protection Headquarters confirmed on Friday.
"This is a sensitive matter because in Europe, they believe that there should be no discrimination on this basis. And we're going to have to see what we do and set ourselves up practically. We've already spoken with the Ministry of Tourism. On the one hand, it is still too early to decide concretely or run before we can walk. These talks will see the situation looked at more deeply and we'll see how we can facilitate a better tourist season this summer than the one we had last year,'' Bozinovic assured.
As has since been learned unofficially, a meeting of the European Commission (EC) on the topic of Covid passports will be held tomorrow, in order to define as soon as possible how people will be able to travel within the borders of the European Union and beyond for leisure during the summer months.
When it comes to Croatia planning Covid passport introductions, the country has held off even talking much about the matter and has instead been sitting back and waiting for a joint EU solution before delving into what some consider to be a controversial topic. This is the opposite move of some other EU member states that have already signed agreements with their emitting markets.
Nearby Greece, which was the first to raise the issue of Covid passports at the European Union level just a month or so ago, has so far signed an agreement with Israel, as well as Cyprus, and is now announcing an agreement with the United Kingdom, as the Northern European island nation brings enormous amounts of traffic to Greece each and every year.
The key issue that Covid passports hope and want to address is the issue of costs, which will be high for all those who will usually need to be tested before and after taking their trips without one unless such requirements are dropped.
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