BELGRADE, Serbia 

Hungary's foreign minister announced that starting Monday, Serbian and Hungarian nationals would be able to cross the joint border between the two countries freely.

"Today, we will enable the citizens of Serbia and Hungary to cross the border between the two countries freely without quarantine," said Peter Szijjarto.

Szijjarto's remarks came after a meeting with Serbia's European Integration Minister Jadranka Joksimovic and the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina's Assembly Speaker, Istvan Pasztor.

Pasztor welcomed the border opening as an exceptional success.

"We often say that relations between the two countries are at an all-time high, and this day is a good confirmation of what that means," said Pasztor.

Hungary in early March took countrywide measures to deal with the novel coronavirus outbreak, initially banning the entry of travelers from Italy, China, South Korea and Iran before introducing a full border closure.

Serbia has so far registered 11,159 cases with 238 deaths and Hungary 3,756 infections with 491 fatalities.

After originating in China last December, COVID-19 has spread to at least 188 countries and regions. Europe and the US are currently the worst-hit regions.

The pandemic has killed more than 345,000 worldwide, with total infections exceeding 5.43 million and recoveries over 2.18 million, according to figures compiled by the US' Johns Hopkins University.