After a meeting of the crisis headquarters with the Prime Minister and ministers in the Government of Republika Srpska, a decision was made to withdraw trucks from the border crossings between Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia.
The carriers emphasize that they have not given up on their demands, but that they do not want ordinary citizens to suffer because of their protests.
As confirmed to Klix.ba, the main reason for this move is the urgent passage of trucks carrying fuel, given that supplies are running low.
The carrier’s crisis headquarters concluded after negotiations that further blocking of these routes could threaten the supply of citizens, which is not in their interest, but they say that this “does not mean giving up the request”.
As a reminder, the blockade of freight traffic at several crossings in Bosnia and Herzegovina began this morning, in accordance with earlier announcements from the “Logistika” Consortium, which brings together carriers from BiH.
The Klix.ba portal team has been at the Svilaj border crossing since this morning, where the presence of a large number of trucks was recorded, and the column of parked trucks along the road stretched for about a kilometer and a half. The traffic of goods at this crossing has been suspended, while passenger traffic continues without interruption.
Carriers point out that they are forced to make radical moves due to what they claim are discriminatory rules that limit their stay in the Schengen area to 90 days. After that period, they face entry bans, even though they have all the necessary permits and licenses to work, and they do not reside in the European Union, but are only in transit.
In addition to resolving the status in the EU, domestic institutions are asked to fulfill 17 previously agreed points, among which the key ones are: return of part of the excise tax on fuel, return of VAT for international transport, and acceleration of procedures and reduction of waiting times at borders.
Although between 50 and 200 trucks were planned to block crossings across the country, in some parts of BiH the police prevented the protest from taking place.
The Government of the Republika Srpska held an emergency meeting last night and asked the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the RS to disable the blocking of the borders in this entity in order to ensure the normal flow of traffic and the smooth transportation of goods. That is why at the Gradiška Grand Prix, although there was a gathering of transporters at the local Arena with an increased presence of the police, the suspension of transport did not occur.
A similar situation was recorded in the West Herzegovina Canton. The police department of the MUP ZHK announced that the police departments in Grude and Ljubuški issued resolutions banning peaceful gatherings under the name “Third call – final announcement of operational protests”, estimating that this would endanger traffic safety and the smooth crossing of the state border.
It remains to be seen how the situation will unfold at the other crossings in the country and whether the competent institutions will quickly react to the remaining demands of the carriers in order to avoid more serious economic consequences. Klix.
