The Working Group for the Coordination of Activities Regarding the Issue of Drivers from Bosnia and Herzegovina in the Schengen Area has today requested the Council of Ministers, namely its Chairwoman Borjana Krišto, to urgently request a meeting with the Croatian Government on this topic.
At today’s meeting in Sarajevo, the Working Group also adopted a conclusion that it will contact the competent Croatian institutions and request a more tolerant application of the border crossing regime for professional licensed drivers.
Minister of Communications and Transport of Bosnia and Herzegovina Edin Forto told reporters that the meeting also concluded that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs should urgently send a summary of this problem to all EU member embassies operating in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Forto assessed that without the recent regional protests by transport operators, the issue of drivers from Bosnia and Herzegovina staying in the EU would not have received the attention of the competent authorities, primarily certain structures within the European Commission, but also EU member states that may also be harmed by this situation.
He emphasized that the issue of drivers from Bosnia and Herzegovina staying in the EU is being treated as a migration issue, even though it is a trade issue.
“This is treated as a migration stay, but it is actually a trade matter. That is why we expect the European Commission to quickly resolve the exemption for professional drivers licensed for international transport,” said Forto, adding that there is no illusion that a quick solution can be reached, but that it must be reached.
Silence and running away from the problem, concluded Forto, will not make the problem disappear.
President of the Chamber of Commerce of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina /FBiH/ Mirsad Jašarspahić stressed that the problem goes far beyond the transport sector and that it is a problem of the entire business community of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Western Balkan countries, and that the consequences could be long-term.
He warned that if companies that use transport services start losing jobs and fall out of global supply chains, in the second round, transport companies will no longer have a job.
“Without a stronger approach and resolution of this problem at the EU level, the BiH economy may find itself in a difficult situation,” said Jašarspahić.
Zijad Šarić from the Consortium “Logistika” said that so far 875 drivers have been returned from the border with Croatia and that it is never known when a driver will cross the border and whether he will be returned.
He also pointed out the uneven application of the rules, that is, there are crossings where the rules apply, and at others they do not.
Šarić pointed out that if there are no results, the previously scheduled protests of transporters will be held on March 23.
“They cannot be postponed any longer. We have already given space to diplomacy once,” said Šarić and concluded that the transport sector in BiH is on its knees.
Forto announced that the Council of Ministers, which formed this group, will be asked to include representatives of the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Affairs, the Border Police and the Directorate for European Integration in its composition.
