Croatia Offers to Provide Long-Term Visas to Serbian Drivers Transporting Goods for Croatian Firms

Marko Cadez (BETAPHOTO/MILOS MISKOV)

Serbian Chamber of Commerce head Marko Cadez said on March 2 that the Croatian government had offered to provide long-term visas for the drivers of transport companies based in Serbia with contracts with firms based in Croatia or another European Union member state if they transport goods for them.

"Something happened at a recent meeting that nobody expected. The Croatian government came out with a proposal, saying, 'Here, we'll put it forward to all member states -- we'll start first, right away, and Hungary also announced it would -- to allow transport companies based in Serbia with contracts with firms from Croatia or other EU countries to obtain long-term visas for their drivers," Cadez said at the Kopaonik Business Forum.

He said that the proposal did not come from "cooperation and love," but that Croatia understood how much it stood to lose each day if transport companies blocked the border, adding that the losses stemming from border crossing blockades in late January had been to the tune of dozens of millions of euros each day.

Nedjo Mandic, the head of the International Transport of Serbia business association, said that, unlike Bosnia and Herzegovina, whose truck drivers have announced new blockades of cargo vehicle border crossings with Schengen Area countries for March 12, Serbian drivers were waiting for the outcome of talks on solving the issue of stay duration for professional drivers in EU countries at the next meeting with European Commission representatives.

"We haven't made any decisions about new protests. We are waiting for the next meeting with EU representatives, which should take place in about two weeks, and also consulting with members. Drivers in [Bosnia and Herzegovina] are under greater pressure than drivers from Serbia. Their trucks are being sent back from the Croatian border. Yesterday they even turned away as many as three buses with passengers because the drivers had used up their allowed stay duration in Schengen Agreement countries," Mandic told BETA.