• Information and recommendations for Polish citizens in Austria
• Information and recommendations for Polish citizens in Switzerland

        The Polish Embassy in Vienna presents information and recommendations which may be useful during the trip to and stay in Austria for the football fans coming over from Poland to watch the European Football Championship games.

        Information concerning the European Championship is also available from the UEFA web sites: http://www.euro2008.uefa.com and the Polish Football Association (PZPN): www.pzpn.pl.

        Information concerning the cities co-participating in the organisation of the Championship, accommodation (hotels, rooms to let, etc.), transport and accompanying events is available from the web sites: http://www.euro2008.uefa.com/, http://www.klagenfurt.at/euro08/, and http://info.wien.at/, www.stadt-salzburg.at, www.innsbruck-tirol08.at – also in Polish.

        Caution! Throughout the Championship games, Austria shall restore border checks on its external borders. The application of the Schengen zone rules will be suspended in this period. Also, it has to be remembered that Switzerland is not a EU member and therefore the Austrian - Swiss border is also a customs duty border.

        The Embassy requests the visitors to become acquainted with the following guidelines and rules recommending that they be strictly complied with.

• Before entry
• While in Austria
• Important for the drivers
• The agenda of the meetings of the Polish representations in Group B in the European Championship elimination round
• Information concerning the cities organising the games in the qualifying round of  the European Championship
• Addresses of the Polish representative diplomatic and consular offices in Austria

CAUTION! The Ministry of Foreign Affairs hereby gives notice that, in connection with the EURO 2008 tournament, Austria will be introducing temporary controls at the Austria–Slovakia border crossings, Berg-Petrzalka and Kittsee-Jarovce, during the period from June 2 to July 1.

CAUTION! Persons who in the past were in conflict with the law in the republic of Austria or in other member state of the EU, were sentenced and then put on probation leave and returned to Poland and the terms of the probation were associated with the ban on the re-entry must be aware that they may be apprehended on the Austrian border or during the stay in Austria and discharged to the law enforcement in Austria or in other EU country.

CAUTION! During the game of the Polish representation in Klagenfurt the CONSULAR Office will be available with the profession consul.

Direct line in emergency situations:

        This is a reminder that, according to the EURO 2008 schedule, a quarter-final match is to be played in Basel on 19th June at 8.45 p.m. between the second team in group B, Poland’s group, and the first team in group A. Basel will also be hosting a semi-final match between the winner of that match and the victors of the match between the group B winners and the runners-up in group A.

        Since the Swiss stadiums where the EURO 2008 matches will be played are relatively small, the number of available tickets, after national ticket quotas and allocations to sponsors and people directly involved have been accounted for, is extremely limited. The following offers an approximate guide:

Basel: St. Jakob-Park – capacity: 42 500. Stadium plan available at: www.fcb.ch/start.html (shop&tickets) 

Berne: Stade de Suisse – capacity: 32 500. Stadium plan available at: www.stadedesuisse.ch/stadion/sta-stadionuebersicht.htm

Zurich: Letzigrund – capacity: 31 500. Stadium plan available at: www.stadionletzigrund.ch/stadion-letzigrund/stadionplan/

Geneva: Stade de Geneve – capacity: 30 000. Stadium plan available at: www.servettefc.ch/stade/acces.php#plan

        Links to EURO2008 hosts:

• Basel: www.euro08.basel.ch
• Berne: www.bern.ch/euro08
• Zurich: www.euro.zuerich.com/de.cfm/euro2008/
• Geneva: www.geneve.ch/euro2008

        Advice to Polish citizens from the Polish Embassy in Berne of Poland:

• Due to the tighter safety regulations which will be in place during EURO 2008, difficulties should be expected when entering the Swiss Confederation; this applies in particular to cars and coaches. Please note! ID checks on the territory of Switzerland will be carried out by the German and French police, in accordance with bilateral agreements on mutual help between security services.
• Please bear in mind that Switzerland in not a European Union member state and its external border is therefore also a customs border (link to the Swiss Federal Customs Administration: www.ezv.admin.ch/zollinfo_privat/index.html?lang=en).
• Lodgings in and near Zurich, Basel, Geneva and Berne should be booked in advance! For people without hotel accommodation, this link leads to a website with the updated offers of private apartments: www.sleepin.ch.
• If the Polish team qualifies for further rounds in Switzerland, the Embassy will appoint a duty consul  in Basel, available on the phone number provided below.
• During EURO 2008, a special contact phone number to the Polish Embassy in Berne will be made available, for people in genuine and dire need of the help from the Polish consul in Switzerland):

Switchboard: (8.00 a.m. – 4.00 p.m.): (0041) 31 3580202.