Truck Drivers Threaten Border Blockades Over Schengen Entry/Exit System

International transport organizations in Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro and North Macedonia are planning coordinated action on September 14 unless their demands for exemptions from the Schengen Entry/Exit System are met.

The Embassy of Greece in Belgrade has informed that, according to a relevant announcement, the Federation of International Transport Drivers and the Association of Transport and Logistics Companies have submitted letters to the EU Delegation in Serbia, calling for international truck drivers to be exempted from the Schengen Entry/Exit System (EES).

The organizations are also requesting that truck drivers be subject to the same provisions currently applicable to air and railway crew members.

According to the letters, if their demands are not met, the organizations plan to block all border crossings between Serbia and the Schengen area starting on September 14. No end date for the planned mobilization has been announced.

The blockade is expected to involve all trucks, with the exception of vehicles transporting medicines, as well as tourist buses.

The letters further state that the protest will be supported by the respective transport organizations in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro and North Macedonia, with blockades planned at the relevant border crossings in those countries as well.