Hungary, Slovakia, Czech Republic Reopen Their Common Borders
Hungary, the Czech Republic and Slovakia have agreed to reopen their borders for each other’s nationals, as up to now they borders have remained closed due to the Coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19), Hungary’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Peter Szijjarto announced.
Minister Szijjarto revealed that he agreed with his Czech and Slovak counterparts to permit Hungarian, Slovak and Czech citizens to stay in their countries without the imposed quarantine for stays of no longer than 48 hours,
Earlier this week, Hungary’s government announced that it has decided to reopen its borders with Serbia. Last week, Hungary also reopened borders with Romania, as both countries started to have fewer Coronavirus infection cases.
At the same time, the Czech Republic has also begun reopening its border crossings with Austria and Germany in a bid to facilitate the movement for citizens between these countries.
The decision was approved on May 25 by the government upon the proposal of the Minister of the Interior Jan HamáÄek (CSSD) to change the regime on the borders with Germany and Austria.
“From Tuesday, we are opening all railway and road crossings with Germany and Austria, as well as the HÅ™ensko river crossing, and we are abolishing comprehensive border controls. We negotiated with our German and Austrian colleagues so that the conditions would be similar for them as well,” minister Jan HamáÄek pointed out.
Until at least June 13, border crossing will only be allowed at designed areas.
Amid the Coronavirus, the Government of Slovakia introduced and maintained internal border controls with Austria, the Czech Republic, Poland and Hungary until May 27, as part of the country’s efforts to stop the further spread of the infection.
Hungary also announced that travellers to Hungary would go through further checks at ports of entry by the Hungarian police and the National Ambulance Service (OMSZ).
