August 24, 2020 - Since the opening of borders with the countries of the region on August 14, at three land border crossings to Montenegro in Herceg Novi - Debeli Brijeg, Sitnica, and Kobila, traffic has been about 20% of that for the comparable period last year.
Contrary to expectations, most traffic was at the Sitnica border crossing with Bosnia and Herzegovina, especially during the weekend. There were no significant traffic oscillations at the busiest crossing with Croatia, Debeli Brijeg, and the smaller Kobila crossing - with more than 22,500 passengers and almost 8,000 vehicles last weekend.
Since the opening of the borders, 33,626 passengers and 11,634 vehicles have crossed the Sitnica border crossing, 40% of traffic figures compared to last year. This border crossing is predominantly used by the citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina, while the verification of documents and tests, depending on the number of vehicles, passengers, and time of day, takes between ten minutes to an hour or more.
As of August 15, 33,090 persons and 12,633 vehicles were registered at the Debeli Brijeg border crossing, which generated 20% of the turnover compared to the same period last year.
The least used was the Kobila border crossing, where 1,465 people and 671 vehicles entered/exited Montenegro, 90% lower than the same period last year.
According to the Border Police Department, passengers generally have the correct tests for COVID-19, so an unknown number of people have been turned back from the border crossings, not having been allowed to enter.
It is not pleasant to wait in a line of traffic in the heat, but if it is comforting, on many borders in the region and Europe, there is a wait of several hours. There are long queues at the Karavanke tunnel on the Slovenian border with Austria. Waiting to cross the border is from 6 am to 1 pm in vehicles, without food and water. This wait has been caused by the new regulation related to Covid-19, according to which every car entering Austria must be inspected.
Spource: Radio Jadran
