The president of the business association International Transport of Serbia, Neđo Mandić, said today that the European Union (EU) had rejected all proposals put forward by professional lorry drivers engaged in international freight transport in the Western Balkans to at least find an interim solution to their restricted stay in the 29 countries of the Schengen Agreement.
Drivers have been instructed to comply with the existing rule allowing a maximum stay of 90 days within a six-month period in the EU (EES 90/180).
“All our proposals were rejected, with the remark that they were ‘imaginative’. That means they have no intention of changing anything in the EES system,” Mandić told Beta today.
He added that EU representatives had scheduled a new meeting in two weeks’ time, but that it was unclear to the drivers’ associations what would be discussed, given that all proposals had been rejected and the EU itself had not put forward an alternative that would be more flexible than the current EES.
The system provides for electronic monitoring of entries and exits from Schengen Agreement countries for lorry drivers from Western Balkan states and limits their stay to a maximum of 90 days within a six-month period. Before the introduction of this system, the length of stay was “measured” by counting passport stamps, so checks were not as strict.
This rule has effectively halved drivers’ working time, and transport companies are unable to find additional staff, as the profession is in short supply across Europe. Moreover, they say they would not be able to afford to pay an increased number of drivers who would only work half-time.
Mandić said that yesterday ten drivers were turned back at the Svilaj border crossing between Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia for exceeding the 90-day limit.
He underlined that drivers’ associations from Serbia, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Bosnia and Herzegovina would coordinate their next steps and decide when to schedule a new protest. He added that Albania is also facing problems and that it is not yet known whether it will take part in the protest or merely offer support.
According to Dušan Nikolić, owner of the company Unitrag Pižon, the protest could be held after the announced meeting “in order to give European companies operating in Serbia a chance to influence the European Commission”.
Nikolić said that associations from Western Balkan countries had proposed, as a temporary measure until a permanent solution is found through the introduction of special visas for professional drivers, that drivers who return within 15 days after their permitted period of stay expires should not be arrested.
At the beginning of October last year, the EU introduced an electronic system for registering entries and exits of professional drivers from Western Balkan countries into the Schengen area, and the trial period will last until 10 April this year, when the EES will begin to be applied consistently.
In the meantime, during the trial period, dozens of drivers have been arrested, lorries carrying goods have been left unattended, and drivers have been deported to their countries of origin.
For this reason, Western Balkan countries staged a four-day protest at the end of January by blocking freight border crossings, which was suspended after the EU offered talks aimed at finding a solution to the problem.
(Beta, 16.02.2026)