Croatia Closes 20 Border Crossings with BiH

(Patria) - The Ministry of the Interior (MUP RH) announced that as of today, seven o'clock, 20 border crossings with Bosnia and Herzegovina will temporarily cease operations.

As of today, April 2nd, at seven o'clock, based on an agreement between Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, aimed at preventing the spread of coronavirus infection, 20 border crossings with Bosnia and Herzegovina for local traffic will temporarily cease operations, states the MUP RH.

The following crossings are being closed: Svilaj, Gejkovac, Pašin Potok, Bogovolja, Kordunski Ljeskovac, Lička Kaldrma, Bili Brig, Aržano Pazar, Dvorine, Cera, Jovića Most, Sebišina, Slivno, Podprolog, Unka, Vukov Klanac, Imotica, Slano, Hrvatska Dubica, and Gabela Polje.

The Ministry of Security of BiH also commented on this announcement.

"We inform the public that the Border Police of Bosnia and Herzegovina has received notification from the NCC of the Republic of Croatia that the Republic of Croatia will temporarily close all border crossings for local traffic between the Republic of Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina from April 2, 2020, at 7 AM, including those border crossings through which international passenger traffic was temporarily allowed by the decision of the Joint Commission for Monitoring the Agreement between the Republic of Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina on Border Crossings," the Ministry stated.

They stated that this decision followed an agreement between BiH and the Republic of Croatia.

"Namely, the Ministry of Security of BiH received a prior opinion from the Border Police, and then the Minister of Security of BiH, Fahrudin Radončić, forwarded the entire matter to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Minister Bisera Turković. After that, an official note was sent to Croatia, accepting this country's proposal to officially close the small border crossings. Otherwise, there was practically no communication through these crossings, because, as is known, both countries have banned the entry of foreigners, so local traffic was not taking place. There are no sanitary inspectors at these crossings, so it was not possible to use these small border crossings for that reason either," the statement reads.