One driver was excluded from traffic yesterday and taken to court. We have now hired a lawyer to represent him.
This for Radio Free Europe (RSE) says Nikola Grbić, who owns a transport company in Bosnia and Herzegovina and drives a truck.
He is one of 19,000 professional transporters in Bosnia and Herzegovina who can stay in the countries of the European Union for 90 days in six months.
This rule has been in force for years, but the problem arose after the introduction of increased controls on drivers from Bosnia and Herzegovina in the EU territory in 2024, following the announcement of the introduction of new digital tools for recording entry into EU member states.
According to the data of the “Logistics of BiH” Consortium, which helps in cooperation between transport companies, during the year 2024, about 300 cases of entry bans for drivers in the EU were recorded, and expenses based on violations of about 220,000 euros.
The Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina tasked the relevant ministries to discuss this issue with EU representatives. It is expected that this will be possible at the Summit of the leaders of the Western Balkans and the EU, for which there is no exact date yet.
A few days ago, the European Union received a reply from the Ministry of Transport and Communications of BiH that drivers cannot be exempted from the rules of residence in the EU.
After January 15, a meeting of transporters from the Western Balkans region was announced, at which decisions will be made about joint going out on the streets and blockades of supply chains with the EU.
Bosnia and Herzegovina is almost completely dependent on international road transport in trade with EU countries.
In addition to Bosnia and Herzegovina, drivers from North Macedonia, Albania, Serbia and Montenegro are also at risk, and drivers from Turkey and Moldova are also facing the same problem.
What are other drivers saying?
Until a year ago, Mirko Grbić was a company driver in Bosnia and Herzegovina. He says that he left that job and moved to Slovenia because he could not feed his family, working only 90 days.
“I have three children, and a fourth is on the way. It is simply impossible for a driver to work 90 days and sit at home for 90 days. What he was supposed to live on for those three months, it’s beyond anyone’s understanding. The struggle was for earnings and with everyday work, let alone now,” Grbić told Radio Free Europe.
This 35-year-old young man is today a driver in Slovenia.
The disputed rule on a maximum stay of 90 days in six months came into force on December 15, 2010. However, according to driver Mirko Grbić, EU countries were more lenient towards drivers from Bosnia and Herzegovina.
“It wasn’t seen that much, everyone was flexible. Except for the police in Hungary, they added up the days and most of the drivers paid the fine,” Grbić told RSE. He did not respond to an inquiry as to whether he had ever paid a fine.
“We have this problem every passport scan. They add up our days, so whoever does more days, he will get a big fine and it’s not worth working more from here,” he adds.
Nikola Grbić, who is also the president of the Association of Transporters for Internal and International Transport of Republika Srpska, one of the two BiH entities, points out that he expects BiH institutions to act more actively in negotiations with the European Commission in order to free drivers in international transport from the disputed rule.
“Well, what economy can withstand this, for a driver to drive for three months and be home for three months? You need to earn a salary to pay him when he is home. It is only now that drivers are expected to leave, more than seven and a half thousand drivers have left Bosnia and Herzegovina since 2019 alone. Now it will speed up and that suits the EU, because there is a big deficit there. There is a shortage of about 70,000 professional drivers in Germany,” said Grbić.
He pointed out that transport companies from the entire region have given a deadline of January 15 for the authorities in their countries to try to resolve something with the EU.
“We had a gathering of carriers at the end of last year. At that time, Forto (Edin, Minister of Transport of Bosnia and Herzegovina) was also actively involved, serious steps and protests, blockades were announced. We are waiting until the 15th and then we will see if they have the strength to deal with the EU and what we will do next, if nothing comes of it,” Grbić said.
The issue of transportation is more important than the injection of funds into the Western Balkans
“This issue is more important than any injection of funds into the Western Balkans, the Western Balkans are effectively blocked by this,” Zijad Sinanović, director of the Department for Transport and Communications at the Foreign Trade Chamber of Bosnia and Herzegovina, told RSE.
He pointed out that BiH realizes about 72 percent of goods exchange with the EU, and that in over 90 percent of cases this exchange takes place by road international traffic.
“The number of drivers is between 17,000 and 19,000, who are afraid and risk getting banned during the control, being prevented from working, and losing their jobs. When you look at the map and the position of Bosnia and Herzegovina, our geographical position is such that we are forced to use road transport services in a certain way, we have neither maritime nor developed railway transport”, said Sinanović.
Sinanović said that the region’s chambers of commerce raised the issue in 2023, but that it is crucial to involve the governments of the countries where transport is at risk in solving the problem.
The issue before the State Council of Ministers was repeatedly raised by the Ministry of Transport and Communications of BiH.
In response to RSE’s inquiry, the Ministry said that the problem of drivers “will be one of the most important issues in the coming period”.
They also point out that Minister Edin Forto advocates the regional principle of problem solving, that is, that the countries send a joint request to the EU.
“He plans to launch such an initiative at the next meeting of regional ministers, which should be held at the end of January in Belgrade,” said the answer to RSE.
The answer from the EU is that there are no exceptions to the rule
A source from the EU Delegation in Bosnia and Herzegovina confirmed for RFE/RL that the EU received a reply from the Ministry of Transport and Communications stating that any stay longer than 90 days must be defined by a long-term visa or residence permit issued by the member states of the Eurozone.
“Therefore, the only possible way would be to submit individual requests to the national authorities of the member state of entry for the approval of an extended legal stay for drivers, citizens of BiH, in the form of a national long-term visa or a national residence permit,” the EU response states.
The Delegation could not confirm whether the issue of residence for professional drivers could be discussed at the summit of the EU and the countries of the Western Balkans, nor do they have any information about when the summit could be held.
Source: Focus
