There is still no concrete solution to ease the Schengen rule for 90 days in 180 days for transporters from the Western Balkans, and transport companies are running out of drivers because of the rule. They demand that the EU and the Western Balkan countries urgently agree on a transitional solution that will allow transporters to function normally until the changes to the EU visa strategy come into force.
Secretary General of the Macedonian transport association Makam-Trans Biljana Muratovska says that the processes need to be accelerated and what the European Union has offered as a solution in the changes to the visa strategy should become a reality for transporters.
“What we asked for has been accepted – that truck drivers be accepted as professionals, not as tourists, but it takes time for the European Union to fully resolve the problem of transporters from the Western Balkans. The procedures for harmonizing and accepting changes to the visa strategy are longer in the Union due to the large number of countries that need to give their opinion and accept the changes, and then vote through the EU bodies. Therefore, it has been agreed to form a working group that will find a temporary solution to the issue,” said Muratovska.
Until a new temporary or permanent solution, the transporters’ representative says, the 90 in 180 rule is in force, to which carriers are complying as long as they can.
“If the current policy is continued, I think there will be no need for transporters to block the borders again, because, as I have said many times before, due to the lack of drivers, carriers will stop transporting, and the EU itself will be blocked. The consequences will not only be suffered by transport companies, but also by other companies, and even citizens both in Europe and in the countries affected by the problem. That is why we are requesting that the processes be accelerated, and that chambers and foreign companies in the country lobby in their countries, in associations and in the EU to find and implement a transitional solution, said Muratovska.
