- Title: Coronavirus no reason to "hide at home" Austria's president says
- Date: 8th July 2020
- Summary: VIENNA, AUSTRIA (JULY 8, 2020) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF AUSTRIAN PRESIDENT ALEXANDER VAN DER BELLEN RECEIVING CROATIAN PRESIDENT ZORAN MILANOVIC, THEN SLOVENIAN COUNTERPART BORUS PAHOR AT VIENNA'S HOFBURG PALACE NEWS CONFERENCE IN PROGRESS (SOUNDBITE) (German) AUSTRIAN PRESIDENT, ALEXANDER VAN DER BELLEN, SAYING (on CATCHING CORONAVIRUS): "We should not fall into a panic mode and hide at home. It can just as easily happen to you in Tyrol, in Carinthia or in beautiful Salzburg. And unfortunately we don't have the sea." VAN DER BELLEN SPEAKING (SOUNDBITE) (German) AUSTRIAN PRESIDENT, ALEXANDER VAN DER BELLEN, SAYING (on SLOVENIA AND CROATIA AS TOURIST DESTINATIONS): "I myself have been to Slovenia and to Croatia on holidays several times, both at the sea and in the mountains. I know what's it like there and I am a proud Tyrolean. And yet, from time to time, I like to go elsewhere." MILANOVIC SPEAKING (SOUNDBITE) (Croatian) CROATIAN PRESIDENT, ZORAN MILANOVIC, SAYING: "It is clear what I need to do, I immediately congratulated the winner of the vote, Andrej Plenkovic, before 7 p.m. on Sunday. I am glad that the result is clear. It is clear which will make my role very simple and relegate it to a technical one." NEWS CONFERENCE IN PROGRESS (SOUNDBITE) (Croatian) CROATIAN PRESIDENT, ZORAN MILANOVIC, SAYING: "Right now, tourist turnover in Croatia measured by arrivals or overnight stays is at the level of 30% from the record high a year ago. I am talking about the month of June. That is three times less than usual. With three times fewer tourists Croatia's coast looks half empty. Among those 30% of all people who were there last year we are talking about a lot of Austrians, Slovenians and Germans. And unfortunately that's it. These are neighbouring states. To expect anything else would be unrealistic." NEWS CONFERENCE IN PROGRESS MILANOVIC WALKING OFF
- Embargoed: 22nd July 2020 15:52
- Keywords: alexander van der bellen austria borus pahor coronavirus croatia presidents trilateral meeting slovenia tourism impact zoran milanovic
- Location: VIENNA, AUSTRIA
- City: VIENNA, AUSTRIA
- Country: Austria
- Topics: Diplomacy/Foreign Policy,Government/Politics
- Reuters ID: LVA001CLY7DX5
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Austrian president Alexander Van Der Bellen said on Wednesday (July 8) people "shouldn't panic and hide at home" because of coronavirus in a joint news conference with counterparts from Slovenia, Borus Pahor, and Croatia, Zoran Milanovic.
Van Der Bellen encouraged Austrians to visit the countries, both worried about the consequences of travel restrictions imposed to curb the coronavirus pandemic.
The Croatian government expects the economy to shrink 9.4% this year as the tourism industry accounts for close to 20% of the country's gross domestic product (GDP).
Slovenia could lose up to 830 million euros ($909.68 million) of income from foreign tourists due to the pandemic, according to a report by the country's central bank published in May.
Asked about his country's election on Sunday, won by the ruling centre-right Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ), Milanovic said he had immediately congratulated HDZ leader Andrej Plenkovic and that he was glad that the election result had been clear.
(Production: Lisi Niesner, Michele Sani, Elena Gyldenkerne) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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