A protest at the Rajka border crossing. (source: FACEBOOK - Slováci v Rajke a okolí)
Drivers entering Slovakia had to wait in long tailbacks at several border crossings after new rules for entering Slovakia became effective on Friday, July 9. In the morning, protesting people blocked the Čunovo-Rajka border crossing to Hungary as well as the Svrčinivec border crossing to the Czech Republic.
Starting July 9 at 6:00, vaccinated people do not have to go into quarantine while unvaccinated people have to enter quarantine until they receive a negative PCR test result. The test can be taken no sooner than after the fifth day of arrival.
The protesters, mainly commuters living in Slovakia and working abroad and vice versa, refuse to comply with the current regulations. They can travel to and from the country with a negative PCR test no older than seven days and they also need to register on eHranica and show their employment contract. More changes will take effect on September 1.The protesters, mainly commuters living in Slovakia and working abroad and vice versa, refuse to comply with the current regulations. They can travel to and from the country with a negative PCR test no older than seven days and they also need to register on eHranica and show their employment contract. More changes will take effect on September 1.
“They significantly disadvantage people from border regions, despite the fact that they live in an area where the epidemic situation is not worse than in Slovakia,” residents of Rajka, a small town in Hungary with a big Slovak community, wrote on social media.
After 9:00, they wrote on Facebook that police reinforcements had arrived at the border crossing and the traffic was let through an additional lane.
“People enter the territory of the Slovak Republic without any control,” wrote the group Slovaks in Rajka and its surroundings. They posted a video of vehicles crossing the border. By noon, the traffic became unrestricted.
During the strike at the Slovak-Czech border crossing in Svrčinovec, tailbacks reached all the way to the highway. The protesters are mostly commuters who have a job abroad. On the other hand, the blockade restricted and delayed the work of truckers, some of whom went on strike in Bratislava, the Sme daily reported.
The police recommend that drivers use a different border crossing like Milošová, for example, to avoid delays.
Protesters planned to block the Slovak-Hungarian border crossing in Milhosť, too. But after the police explained the measures to them after entering the Slovak territory, they dropped their plan. The traffic here is smooth without any tailbacks, the police said, as reported by the SITA newswire.
