Balkan Truckers Lift EU Blockades Amid New Visa Strategy Updates

Impact of EU Visa Strategy on Balkan Truckers

BATROVCI, Serbia, Jan 29 (Reuters) - Truck drivers in two out of four Balkan countries lifted blockades of cargo terminals on borders with the European Union after the bloc announced a new visa strategy that will be more flexible for professionals required to travel across Europe.

Blockades Lifted in Some Countries

Drivers in Montenegro and North Macedonia ended blockades on their EU borders begun on Monday but those in Bosnia and Serbia continued blocking freight transport along their parts of the key corridor linking the EU to Turkey and the Middle East.

Continued Protests in Serbia and Bosnia

They launched the protest against the EU's new stricter implementation of its entry-exit system under which they face detention and deportation for exceeding Schengen visit limits.

Economic Consequences of the Blockades

They asked their respective governments to press the EU to adjust the rules, which they say add hundreds of millions of euros to costs.

The EU on Thursday adopted its first-ever visa strategy that foresees visa flexibility for highly mobile professions like truck drivers, athletes or artists.

"This is particularly relevant for professional drivers from Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Western Balkans region, but also others such as touring artists or athletes," Luigi Soreca, the head of the EU delegation in Bosnia, posted on X.

North Macedonian truckers announced they would end blockades of the freight sections of the border crossings with Greece and Bulgaria on Thursday evening while Montenegrin truckers had already lifted a blockade of the Adriatic port of Bar that had stoked fears of fuel shortages.

But a representative of the Serbian and Bosnian truckers said they would carry on their blockade. "These (EU) statements do not fulfil our demands nor resolve our problems," said Zijad Saric, a Bosnian transporter and protest organiser.

At the Batrovci border crossing between Serbia and Croatia, an EU member state, a mile-long column of trucks blocked the approach to the cargo terminal.

Serbia's Chamber of Commerce head Marko Cadez said 93% of exports from the four countries were blocked, causing daily damage of about 92 million euros ($109.95 million).

EU-based firms operating in or exporting to the region are also affected.

"For every company ... it is about 10,000 to 50,000 euros per day in penalties ... as they are not servicing customers," Cadez told Reuters in Belgrade.

($1 = 0.8368 euros)

(Reporting by Aleksandar Vasovic in Belgrade and Branko Filipovic in Batrovci, additional reporting by Daria Sito-Sucic in Sarajevo; Editing by Philippa Fletcher)