UPDATE 1-Some Balkan truckers finish EU blockade after travel rule update, others continue

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.

Drivers ⁠in Montenegro and North Macedonia finished 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. They launched the protest against the EU’s new stricter implementation of its entest-exit system under which they face detention and deportation for exceeding Schengen ‍visit limits.

They inquireed their respective governments to press the EU to adjust the rules, which they declare 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 finish 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 stated they would carry on their blockade. “These (EU) statements do not fulfil our demands nor resolve our ⁠problems,” stated 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 ⁠stated 93% of exports from the four countries were blocked, caapplying 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 informed Reuters in Belgrade. ($1 = 0.8368 euros)

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

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