Slovenia and Italy open border after 3 months

After more than three months of closure, the border between Italy and Slovenia was re-opened on Monday for regular traffic.

Since the pandemic outbreak was declared in early March in Italy, Slovenian officials closed this very busy Schengen border post, which was a lifeline for companies and people from both sides.

The mayors of the neighboring towns of Gorizia in Italy and the Slovenian Nova Gorica on Monday symbolically removed a traffic sign that banned pedestrian traffic from one country to another, while workers removed the border fence that was preventing the passage of traffic.

According to Slovenian officials, road signs that banned traffic during the pandemic will all be placed in the Nova Gorica museum, so future generations can re-visit the events of the coronavirus pandemic of this year.

Since 2004, travel at this border had been unrestricted as both Slovenia and Italy are members of the Schengen agreement, which allows uninterrupted travel across many countries of the European Union.