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From Thursday, Residents of Slovakia Can Enter the Czech Republic and Return Within 24 Hours Without a Test

From Thursday, May 21st, Slovak residents can travel to selected countries for one day, including the Czech Republic, without having to enter quarantine or submit a negative Covid-19 test result upon their return. Czechs may be able to travel to neighbouring states with similar freedoms sometime in June, but Czech political leaders and their foreign counterparts have not yet reached a decision. Photo credit: Freepik / For illustrative purposes.

Czech Rep., May 22 (BD) – Residents of Slovakia, including foreigners residing in the country, will not need to show a negative Covid-19 test if they return from the Czech Republic to Slovakia within 24 hours of leaving. Those crossing the border will complete a form which is then time-stamped by police for inspection upon return. On the other hand, with few exceptions, foreigners cannot enter Slovakia. According to media reports, Slovakia may relax its border regime further in mid-June.

However, according to some sources, Czech police will not allow Slovak citizens to enter the Czech Republic in the first place unless they have Czech residency or are in an exempted category, the same rules as for all other EU citizens wishing to travel to the Czech Republic.

The number of confirmed cases of coronavirus in Slovakia has been increasing very slowly for the last month. The vast majority of the 1,502 infected have recovered, with just 28 deaths.

When Will Czech Residents Be Able to Travel Freely To Neighbouring Countries?

The Czech Cabinet is currently negotiating a open borders agreement with Austria and Slovakia, known as “Mini-Schengen”, to promote business and tourism. Hungary will also be invited to join the meetings. According to the Czech Ministry of Foreign Affairs, details of the agreement should be clear within the next week.

https://twitter.com/TPetricek/status/1262741522438483970

The opening of the Polish and German borders are the subject of other negotiations. “The goal of Czech diplomacy is to coordinate the opening of borders with neighboring states sometime during June,” said the Czech Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday. 

From Tuesday, May 26th, it will be possible (for the Czech residents) to cross the Czech border at several points, and border checks will be random. However, a negative test for Covid-19 will still be required upon return to the country, said Deputy Prime Minister and Interior Minister Jan Hamáček (ČSSD) on Monday.

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