Hauliers from Serbia, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Bosnia and Herzegovina are blocking freight terminals due to the new EES system for entry into and exit from the EU, as well as the inadequate response of the European Commission and Schengen countries regarding the treatment of professional drivers and the limitation of their stay in the Schengen area.
At the Gradina border crossing, at the entry into the country, a queue of trucks has formed at the freight terminal. Since yesterday afternoon, all other crossings, including smaller crossings towards Bulgaria, have also been blocked.
Milan Ilić, a representative of the international association of transport operators, told RTS that they have strong support from colleagues and good cooperation with the Ministry of the Interior.
“There is understanding among colleagues. Simply put, this is in everyone’s interest. It may not be in the interest of colleagues from Bulgaria, but it certainly is for colleagues from Turkey, as well as those from the Western Balkan countries, and all drivers who are subject to the 90/180 regime. This is a fight for all those drivers in terms of gaining recognition of their professional status and exemption from the strict rules that apply in the Schengen area regarding the length of stay,” Ilić said.
German-Serbian Chamber of Commerce: We have been appealing for years, their capital is also at risk
Filip Simović, President of the German-Serbian Chamber of Commerce, told RTS that over the past few years they have been appealing and sending non-papers in cooperation with German companies. “So the companies that have headquarters here, whose parent companies are based in Germany, are appealing to their own state, but the state itself must also directly appeal to the European Commission. For now, we have no solutions and no response from the European Union itself,” Simović said. He hopes the problem will be resolved as soon as possible and expects the European Commission to consider the situation, as not only Serbian companies are at risk, but also the capital of the European Union and Germany.
Čadež: Damage to the region amounts to EUR 100 million every day, EUR 55 million for Serbia
Marko Čadež, President of the Serbian Chamber of Commerce, told RTS that the damage to the economies of the Western Balkans amounts to EUR 100 million every day – EUR 55 million from exports alone and the inability to export from Serbia.
“We are talking here only about direct damage to goods, and on top of that, every company that exports and fails to deliver something on time pays certain penalties. These range per company between EUR 10,000 and EUR 50,000, in just one day. Take into account that 10,000 companies export from Serbia alone, and then we can calculate the scale of the damage we are talking about,” Čadež said.
He pointed out that it is paradoxical that the supply chain crisis has been caused primarily by the inflexibility of the European Union’s own institutions, which showed no understanding and thus slowed down and seriously endangered their own economy.
“We are not talking here only about the Serbian economy or companies from Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina or North Macedonia. We are talking about companies from the European Union that manufacture finished products or components here and export them to the EU market, where they are then incorporated into other products that go to third markets,” Čadež stressed.
He noted that the Serbian Chamber of Commerce, together with chambers of commerce from across the Western Balkans region, sent around 15 letters to the European Commission and member states in the past year alone, but there was no response.
Čadež emphasised that drivers from the Western Balkans, who transport the largest share of goods into the European Union, are being treated as attempted migrants or criminals.
“In just the past seven days, according to what I know so far, there may have been more, but as of the information from last night, nine drivers have been arrested. We had a situation where a driver arrived at a port in Germany, was arrested and deported back. Another driver went to collect the goods that were left there, and he too was arrested and deported back,” Čadež said.
Hauliers from Western Balkan countries began blockades of road freight transport at border crossings with Schengen countries yesterday at noon due to the inadequate response of the European Commission and Schengen countries regarding the treatment of professional drivers and restrictions on their stay in the Schengen area during daily work activities.
The International Transport Association previously announced that, simultaneously with Serbian hauliers, their colleagues from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro and North Macedonia would begin blockades at all their border crossings, while colleagues from Turkey would support the protest by sending vehicles to Serbia’s border crossings.
The ETIAS Regulation, the implementation of which begins on 10 April, allows hauliers from the region to stay and work in Schengen countries for a maximum of 90 days within a 180-day period. If, cumulatively across all their journeys, they exceed 90 days, they are banned from entry, according to the 021 portal.
Hauliers believe this will prevent them from working, make them uncompetitive compared to hauliers from EU member states, and result in the loss of jobs and income for their families.
The main demand of hauliers is to find a solution for drivers’ stay in the Schengen area, either by not recording days of stay or by issuing special types of visas that would not be limited by the number of days.
The European Commission is monitoring developments concerning hauliers from the Western Balkans and is in contact with partners from the region, working on solutions to their problems, said earlier EC spokesperson Markus Lamer.
President of the Association of Serbian Hauliers, Neđo Mandić, told Beta last night that since yesterday at noon, all freight border crossings between Serbia and Schengen countries have been blocked and will remain so until a solution is found to the current restrictions on the stay of professional drivers in those countries.
A total of 90 days of stay is permitted within the previous 180 days, with each entry counted as a full day, even though a driver’s journey may last only a few hours.
“Everything is blocked, nothing will pass either day or night. Since noon the exit has been blocked, and since midnight the entry of trucks into Serbia,” Mandić told Beta.
According to Mandić, hauliers have been seeking a solution for several years, as both exports and imports of goods will be jeopardised due to a shortage of drivers who could potentially replace those who have used up their permitted stay quota.
They believe that professional drivers cannot be equated with other travellers and that they should be allowed to carry out freight transport work with valid personal documents and cargo documentation.
Previous attempts to find a solution, according to drivers’ associations from Serbia, Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina, have failed because Schengen countries say they are “monitoring the situation”, but no solutions have been offered.
Mandić said that solutions proposed by the European Commission, such as issuing residence permits or granting truck drivers the status of cross-border workers whose border crossings are generally not recorded, are also unacceptable, as they are not applicable in practice. He added that some states are unwilling to accept such solutions, creating a risk that drivers could be deported. Hauliers point out that, in addition to the lack of sufficient drivers willing to work under such reduced conditions, companies also do not know how they would pay drivers working with halved working hours.
(eKapija, 27.01.2026)