Croatia: Serbia’s travel warning is political, not based on security

Croatia: Serbia’s travel warning is political, not based on security

Serbia’s decision to advise its citizens not to travel to Croatia in early August was driven by Belgrade’s “internal political motives” and not security criteria, the Croatian Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs, headed by Gordan Grlic Radman, said.

“Every country has the right to issue recommendations for its citizens regarding travel abroad, in accordance with its own assessments, but in this case, the impression is that such recommendations are driven primarily by domestic political motives and not by assessments based on objective criteria or real safety indicators,” the Croatian Ministry said.

In response, the ministry added that “according to all relevant indicators,” including Eurostat data, Croatia is “one of the most visited tourist destinations in Europe and at the same time one of the safest countries in the European Union,” HINA reported.

The Serbian Foreign Ministry on Monday recommended that citizens “refrain from traveling to Croatia” from August 1 to 10 and advised them to “avoid gatherings and other public gatherings that carry a risk of incidents” if they are in the country during this period.

The Serbian ministry did not give a reason for the recommendation.