Austrian authorities expect long traffic jams at the borders this weekend due to returnees from holidays in Croatia who could shorten their holidays due to the inclusion of Croatia on the list of risky countries.

At the entrance to Austria near Sentilj, they waited for about an hour on Saturday morning. At the entrance to Slovenia from Austria near the Karavanke tunnel, there was a wait of up to three hours on Saturday morning.

The Austrian Automobile Club (ÖAMTC) expects that the columns from the south could intensify in the evening on Saturday and during Sunday, reports HINA.

Then even bigger delays are expected because the authorities are counting on the fact that many Austrian citizens who are currently on vacation in Croatia due to the re-inclusion of Croatia on the list of risky countries and warnings from traveling to this country and related obligations of returnees this weekend return home.

The Austrian government made the decision on Friday following news of a record number of new Covid-19 cases in Croatia, and it comes into effect at midnight on Monday. People returning home to Austria from holidays in Croatia must show a current negative test for coronavirus from Monday or undergo testing within 48 hours.

According to current information from the Austrian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, about 3,000 Austrian citizens are officially on holiday in Croatia. But at the same time, the authorities believe that this figure is many times higher.

"We start from the fact that there are a much larger number of Austrian citizens in Croatia," the ministry said in a statement. The ministry also said that over 100 new cases of coronavirus infection had been reported in the last week alone, which were proven to have been brought into the country from holidays in Croatia.

Austrian Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg said that after Croatia, further warnings regarding travel abroad are possible. This is especially true of the Spanish Balearics.

“We know that with these warnings and restrictions on freedom of travel, we are creating problems for many Austrians. But the summer of 2020 is not like other summers," Schallenberg told the public service ORF.

Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz has called for stricter controls on coronavirus in returnees at the borders.

"Health offices are not doing their job properly. The controls should be more thorough and faster," Kurz told the daily "Oesterreich" on Saturday. The opposition Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ) criticized Kurz and accused him of putting pressure on local health offices.

Secretary-General Michael Schnedlitz said that instead of putting pressure on these institutions, the Vienna government should take action against the growing number of falsified negative coronavirus tests on returnees from the Western Balkans. "It has long been known that many of these allegedly negative tests of returnees from the Western Balkans are false," Schnedlitz said on Saturday.