Blockage of freight traffic at border crossings in Montenegro towards Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, started on Tuesday (April 14) at 10 a.m., and will last until Thursday at the same time.
It is about the protest of the transporter due to the measures European Union (EU) which reduce the period of stay of carriers in its member states, which is why there were already blockades throughout the Balkans at the beginning of the year.
Another reason, they state, is the unfulfilled promises of the Government of Montenegro, among which are the return of excise duty on fuel and the reduction of detention at the borders.
The Association of Transporters previously said that the Police Administration approved their protest at all border crossings, except in the Port of Bar, RTCG reported.
Cargo ships transporting medicines, animals and flammable material will be able to pass the border crossings, Montenegrin media reports.
The transporters' association said that, if the demands are not met, they will try to extend the protest.
Blockades across the Balkans
At the end of January, from the 26th to the 30th, truck drivers from several countries in the Western Balkans organized a blockade of cargo terminals at border crossings to EU countries, dissatisfied with the current rules of Brussels.
According to EU rules, drivers from non-member countries can spend a maximum of 90 days within the Schengen area during 180 days.
Photo: Tanjug / Aleksandra OrlićCarriers from the countries of the Western Balkans are blocked at border crossings
Additional pressure was created by the introduction of the EES, a system that provides for the collection of biometric data at the borders.
Despite the multi-day blockade of the cargo terminals of the border crossings to the countries of the European Union as a form of pressure on Brussels, truck drivers from the Western Balkans must still comply with the rules on the length of stay in the Schengen zone.
Nothing from the blockade in Serbia
Dušan Nikolić, a member of the Board of Directors of the International Transport of Serbia business association, said that carriers from Serbia will not block crossings on April 14, as they previously announced, because they expect additional solutions to be found with the EU for professional drivers working in Schengen countries.
Answering the question of whether carriers from Serbia will organize blockades due to the start of full application of the EES system from April 10, Nikolić told Tanjug that the carriers decided to cancel the protest because they expect that solutions will be found in the EU member states that will facilitate daily work.
Carriers from Serbia previously announced that the protest of Serbian professional carriers will begin on April 14, in case a solution for professional drivers is not found before April 10, when the full implementation of the Entry and Exit System (EES) began.
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