At a meeting of the Working Group coordinating activities related to drivers’ stay in the Schengen area, the need for urgent talks with the relevant bodies of the Croatian Government was once again emphasized. The talks cover drivers’ residence, border crossing procedures, and entry into the Schengen zone.
“For some time now, the Working Group has been seeking a meeting with the relevant bodies of the Croatian Government on the issue of our drivers and transport operators, border crossings, and entry into the Schengen area. Today, we expanded this to include the alignment of inspections at border crossings with Croatia. This refers to veterinary, phytosanitary, and sanitary inspections, which make some crossings inefficient despite having the necessary infrastructure, both for our transporters and for those entering from Croatia,” said Edin Forto, Minister of Communications and Transport of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The members of the Working Group, according to his statement, expect to receive further information in the coming period from the Chairwoman of the Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Borjana Krišto, regarding her earlier talks with Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenković.
Forto confirmed that a significant number of transporters were granted free passage across the border and allowed to return. This arrangement will likely last for a couple of months, after their permitted days of stay were reset to zero, including for those who had already used part of their allowed days in the past six months.
“I believe that the European Commission, together with the Republic of Croatia, acted in coordination for two reasons. The first reason is that we persistently requested it, and the second is the start of the tourist season and the increased volume of travel, with the introduction of a new system aimed at reducing congestion at border crossings.
The next meeting of the Working Group is scheduled in about two weeks, with the goal of reaching concrete conclusions and coordinating joint action toward the governing institutions in Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Republic of Croatia.
