THE QUESTION of saving the tourist season and traveling to Croatia is becoming a topic of discussion in Austrian and German media.

Der Standard, an Austrian news portal, posted a comment from its leading reporter, Han Rauscher, who denounced the Austrian government’s egoism when it comes to its plans for opening the borders. 

Austrian policy towards Slovenia and Croatia is unclear

Rauscher points out that Austria currently has different criteria about the countries allowed to travel from, as well as countries Austrians can visit for the summer holidays. He also states that traveling to Switzerland, Germany, Czech Republic, and Hungary will be possible from mid-June. That’s not certain for Croatia and Slovenia, while the matter of traveling to Spain, Italy, and Greece is completely up in the air.

That’s why some are starting to silently accuse Austria of egoism and anti-European behavior, says Rauscher and mentions the Slovenian Interior Minister, who stated that he got the impression that Austria is stalling to keep the citizens, who would like to travel abroad, in Austria for summer holidays. 

Austria stalls Greece

“All the countries in the south want Austrian tourists for summer holidays, but the question is whether they could return to Austria after vacation without 14 days of quarantine,” says Rauscher. Greece is especially singled out because, although its reaction to coronavirus was quick and effective, it still cannot hope for the Austrian tourists. 

Therefore, the Austrian government is being urged to change the impression that Austria takes an egoistic attitude within the EU once again.

APA: Croatian borders are open for tourists

The Austrian Press Agency (APA) posted the big news, which is quite good for Croatian tourism. APA states that the Croatian borders are open for tourists from Austria, Slovakia, Czech Republic, and Hungary. The guests can report their arrival to Croatia via an application, thus avoiding the crowds on borders, which was announced by the Croatian Tourism Minister Gari Cappelli.

A couple of thousands of Slovenian tourists have already arrived, but the Slovenian Interior Minister complains about “the inflexibility of the Austrian government,” although the epidemiological situation in Slovenia is better than in Austria.

The German ARD recommends summer vacation in Croatia

On the other hand, Croatia is continuously listed as one of the best summer destinations this year by the German media.

Croatia has been singled out in the newest article on the ARD news portal, and it was pointed out that the Croatian border is open for foreigners as of May 9. The German RTL had similar reports about Croatia a few days before.