Twenty drivers from Macedonia have suffered in recent months from the new rules for entering and leaving the Schengen area, according to which they may not exceed a single day of the 90 days allowed within six months. Thirteen have been deported and have had a lighter pass – with financial fines, while seven have received an entry ban, i.e. a “black stamp” in their passport. This was stated on the Biznis 21 show by Biljana Muratovska from the “Makam-Trans” Association.
“Over the last five or six months, before the blockades, we have 20 drivers, 13 of whom have received bans and been deported.”
– What does this mean specifically?
“With lighter sanctions, only with a fine, so no work ban.”
“But we have seven drivers who have received bans, for six months or a year.”
Muratovska says that the four-day protests by transporters from the Western Balkans, which blocked the borders for the entry and exit of goods, have raised alarm bells in Brussels, but problems still exist.
Following the meeting of ministers from the Western Balkans with representatives of the European Commission, the Commission is expected to present a transitional solution this week, until a permanent solution is prepared. If there is no quick response, protests and new blockades at the borders cannot be ruled out.
“According to statements from Bosnian and Serbian carriers, they are larger, cover a wider territory and say that these blockades would be repeated. But I am optimistic…”
– Do you expect a quick solution?
“I expect that within 2 to 4 months the problem will be overcome, while next week we will see if we will be given any instrument so that we do not have problems during the transitional period.”
As a temporary solution, Muratovska proposes not counting the stamps in drivers’ passports. According to her, the European Commission could do this quickly, with a decision invoking the new visa strategy, which for the first time recognizes truckers as professionals. The best long-term solution, she says, is to treat truckers like pilots and train drivers, who are exempt from the new electronic entry and exit system.