Ministry Warns Against Travel to 46 Countries This Potato Break, UAE and Cuba Included

The potato holidays, Slovenia's autumn school break, start next week. At a meeting with journalists, the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs (MZEZ) said where Slovenes had better not go. On October 19 it advised against all travel to 27 countries and against all non-essential travel to another 19.

It advises against all travel to Afghanistan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Iran, Yemen, South Sudan, Lebanon, Libya, Mali, Niger, Palestine, Syria, Somalia, the Central African Republic, Sudan, Ukraine, Belarus, Burkina Faso, Chad, Guinea-Bissau, Haiti, Honduras, Iraq, Israel, Myanmar, Pakistan, Russia and Venezuela.

It advises against all non-essential travel to Bahrain, Bangladesh, Bolivia, Ecuador, Ethiopia, Guinea, Jordan, Qatar, Kuwait, Liberia, Mozambique, Oman, Papua New Guinea, Saudi Arabia, North Korea, Trinidad and Tobago, East Timor, the United Arab Emirates and Cuba. Because the ministry counts tourist trips as non-essential, this also applies to an ordinary holiday.

The ministry uses five risk levels. The lowest means there is no reason to advise against travel, while the highest, black, means a call to leave the country immediately. According to Viktor Mlakar, the ratings reflect not only the security situation but also the ability of Slovenian diplomacy to help citizens. In countries with an orange, red or black warning, consular assistance may be limited or even impossible, and even transit can be a major challenge if conditions worsen.

Mlakar, head of the consular sector, said in a statement to the media:

“We ask travellers to prepare well before going abroad. They need to check their travel documents, their validity, the entry requirements of the country they are travelling to, and whether vaccination is required. (...) Last but not least, they must also take out proper travel health insurance,” (translated)

According to him, documents are the first trap. Slovenian citizens need a passport or an identity card, and a driving licence is not a travel document. It is not enough for a document to be valid on the day of departure: some countries require it to stay valid for several months after entry, in some cases six months. Mlakar warned that some Slovenes have already been refused at the airport and had to return home. Although Slovenia is in the Schengen area, member states can carry out border checks at certain locations, so always keep an ID document on you.

The second trap is health. The European Health Insurance Card is valid in EU countries but not outside them. The cost of treatment and transport from a distant country can be extremely high, so the ministry recommends good-quality travel health insurance.

The ministry also advises caution closer to home. Because of protests across Europe, including in France, it advises people to follow the situation and avoid areas where demonstrations are taking place. Mlakar added:

“So if they are travelling there, they should know that the area can be (...) dangerous, and they may prefer to leave it out of their route,” (translated)

The ministry again urges people to use the free eLastovka app. In it you can check the risk level for a given country, find the relevant embassy or consulate, and look up phone numbers for the police and emergency medical help. The app was launched in June, and since then around 2,500 people have registered their trip in it. Jan Mulec, head of the consular crisis response unit, said this is a lot compared with some other countries, but that they would like more users. In recent months the app was used during the floods in Nepal and the eruption of Etna in Sicily. Trip data is deleted automatically once the registered period ends.

For emergencies, the ministry's duty service in Ljubljana is also available: +386 1 478 22 19 or dezurni.mzez@gov.si.