As the summer tourism season neared its end, Croatia recorded an increase in coronavirus infections and was put on some states’ ‘red lists’ of epidemiological unsafe countries. Croatia’s authorities said the country registered 136 new infections on Monday amid a rise in cases which has delivered a late blow to the summer tourism season.

The British government is set to drop today Croatia from its quarantine-free list, giving thousands of Britons just 30 hours to return to the UK to avoid having to self-isolate for 14 days, British media reported. At the same time Slovenia urged its citizens to return from Croatia by the end of the week or face an obligatory two-week quarantine after the number of Covid-19 cases there continued to rise there.

Italy's Health Minister Roberto Speranza on Wednesday has signed an ordinance requiring everyone returning to Italy from trips to Spain, Croatia, Malta and Greece to be tested for the coronavirus, ANSA reported. The aim is to stop major outbreaks being caused by the importation of contagion by returning holidaymakers.

The Croatian parliament approved on Thursday the new centre-right cabinet led by PM Andrej Plenkovic whose Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) won the most parliamentary seats in the general election held on 5 July. His coalition government is supported by two smaller liberal parties and representatives of the national minorities. Plenkovic headed the former HDZ-led coalition over the last four years.

Croatia’s president nominated centre-right Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) party leader Andrej Plenkovic as prime minister-designate on Thursday, signalling his return to power after a 5 July parliamentary election.

The Balkans, one of the poorest regions in Europe with the most fragile medical infrastructure, is bracing against a surge in coronavirus infections, AFP reported.

Bulgaria and Croatia have been accepted into Exchange Rate Mechanism II, a precursor to adopting the euro as their currency over the next three years, the European Central Bank said in a statement on Friday, Reuters reported.

Eurozone officials are ready to let Croatia and Bulgaria into the ERM-2 mechanism, a preliminary stage for adopting the euro as their currency in the next three years, four sources told Reuters on Thursday.

Croatia’s ruling centre-right Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) convincingly won a parliamentary election on Sunday, held at a time of rising coronavirus infections and a sharp economic downturn due to the pandemic. The official results after around 60% of votes were counted gave the HDZ 68 seats in the 151-seat parliament, while its top opponent, the Social Democrats (SDP) and its small allies, secured 43 seats.

Croatians will go to polls on Sunday to elects new parliament amid rising coronavirus cases, which is putting further pressure on ruling conservatives facing stiff opposition by their traditional centre-left rivals and a new nationalist party, which at the end could become kingmaker, news wires reported. Polls put the two biggest political parties neck-to-neck.