00:00Truck drivers in four Western Balkan countries are blocking cargo border crossings at the EU's external border.
00:07Their blockade is hindering traffic on a key route that connects the EU with Turkey and the Middle East.
00:14The blockade is in response to the introduction of the EU's new electronic entry-exit system, EES,
00:21which will more strictly enforce existing EU limits on how long non-EU citizens, and therefore non-EU truckers,
00:29can stay in the block's free travel Schengen area.
00:32The EU rules restrict this stay to a maximum 90 days in any 180-day period.
00:38Anyone exceeding this limit can be barred from entering the EU for between six months and two years.
00:46Serbian trucker Nenad Popovic explains how this could happen to him on this particular trip.
00:53When I came to the EU, I went to the EU,
01:00whether it was one hour or whether it was the whole last day,
01:03and then you drive to the UK.
01:06In Slovenia, it was a week for a week,
01:09until ten,
01:10you already had two days in the EU,
01:12and you didn't have 500 kilometers.
01:14and then you go to the car,
01:16and then you lose the whole day.
01:18Then you go to the EU and the EU again,
01:20and then you go to the car,
01:21and then you go to the car again,
01:23and then you go to the car again.
01:24And then you thought you'd have to do everything,
01:26and then you wait for parking,
01:29and then you have to be deported.
01:31and then you go to the car again,
01:32and then you go to the car again,
01:33and then you go to the car again,
01:34and then you go to the car again.
01:35In 2025,
01:36more than 100 truck drivers were deported from the EU
01:39for exceeding the 90-day limit.
01:41According to Bosnia's Logistica Association,
01:44which represents 47,000 workers,
01:47another 100 deportations were announced last week.
01:51Owners of transportation companies in Serbia
01:54say that the limit is disastrous for them and for the economy.
01:58They have been trying to resolve the problem
02:01through diplomatic channels for two years.
02:03So far, however, the answer from Brussels has been
02:07that the regulations must be strictly observed.
02:10Transportation companies say
02:12that they are particularly angered by the detention of drivers.
02:17There is a lot of increase
02:19for not only workers, but also companies,
02:22where drivers deport the first car
02:25are not allowed to be able to go to the EU.
02:30With that, we have no more opportunities to work.
02:35On Monday, trucks started lining up at border crossings
02:39in Bosnia and Herzegovina,
02:41Serbia, North Macedonia and Montenegro
02:44in a coordinated action across the four non-EU countries.
02:48The truckers are seeking an extension of the 90-day limit
02:51for professional drivers in the Schengen area,
02:54saying that the large volumes of cargo they carry
02:56and long lines at borders
02:58mean that they can quickly exceed the current limit.
03:01The most important time is to take the border.
03:05There are more waiting for a day, two, three.
03:10It depends.
03:11Company owner Rasiko Borovic fears
03:13that many of his drivers might leave the country
03:15if nothing happens.
03:17But not everybody shares this opinion.
03:20Nenad Popovic says that even if the deadline passes
03:22without a solution,
03:23he wants to continue working for Serbian companies.
03:26We don't want to work for Serbian companies.
03:31We wouldn't have to leave the country as a young person.
03:35But not everybody shares this opinion.
03:37Nenad Popovic says that even if the deadline passes without a solution,
03:41he wants to continue working for Serbian companies.
03:45We wouldn't have to leave the country as a young person.
03:49We want to work for Serbian companies if they can.
03:53Nobody knows how long the trucker's blockade will last.
03:57While the European Commission says it is monitoring the situation closely,
04:01it doesn't seem willing to budge on the current rules.
04:04No, we believe.
04:06No, thereof.
04:07No, thereof.
04:08Joe pulls in red.
04:09No, I thought I had something for you.
04:10No, enough, no.
04:12No, I thought you were used.
04:13Only been there, I thought you were used in six months.
04:14Most, brother, no, nothing of a trip.
04:15No, didn't even you but follow us Mer dan problemas.
04:17No their decisions are either.
04:18No mate and 망 o Guy or something,
04:20no it...
04:21Let all life forget about your business.
04:24EPM radical Osbeis,
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