US EditionWestern Balkan Truck Drivers Begin Lifting Border Blockades After EU Signals Flexibility on Schengen Rules
Partial lifting of blockades follows EU proposal for visa flexibility and longer stays for professional drivers under the Schengen rules, easing freight disruptions across key regional corridors.
- On Jan 29, truck drivers in Bosnia, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia maintained blockades of cargo terminals on EU borders, with a mile-long queue at the Batrovci border crossing halting freight along the corridor.
- Truckers began protesting on Monday over the EU's stricter entry-exit rules, with regional governments urging the EU to adjust rules and consider special visas or permits for mobile professions.
- Cadez said 93% of exports were blocked, causing about 92 million euros daily damage, and `for every company... it is about 10,000 to 50,000 euros per day in penalties... as they are not servicing customers`.
- EU spokesperson Markus Lamert said the bloc is working on a visa strategy for highly mobile professions, and Montenegrin truckers lifted a blockade of the Adriatic port of Bar on Thursday.
- Requests for meetings with the European Commission and proposals for special visas signal ongoing negotiations, as Andjelic said, `I would personally like this to be over tomorrow..., but we will see what the European Commission will... bring to us as a solution`.
16 Articles
16 Articles
Truck drivers in Montenegro and northern Macedonia have ended their blockade at the EU's external border.
The Straits Times
InternazionaleWestern Balkans seek EU concessions for truckers as borders blocked for fourth day
BATROVCI, Serbia, Jan 29 - Truck drivers in the Western Balkans maintained their blockades of cargo terminals on borders with the European Union on Thursday as regional governments asked the EU to adjust rules they say add hundreds of millions of euros to costs. Read more at straitstimes.com.
The Montenegrin Transport Association will suspend border blockades of freight traffic, after reaching an agreement on the demands they made from the government.
The European Commission will examine how to provide more flexibility in the implementation of EU visa rules for road hauliers from the Western Balkans who are dissatisfied with the new European Entry/Exit System (EES), according to the responsible Vice-President Henne Virkkunen. The problems are addressed in the EU visa strategy published today, she said.
Hundreds of truck drivers blocked freight border crossings in several Balkan countries for the third day in a row on Wednesday, protesting against European Union (EU) rules limiting their stay in the bloc.
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