Logistics Consortium: Blockade of transport border crossings to the EU on Monday

(Patria) - The "Logistika BiH" Consortium, which brings together carriers, announced on Monday, January 26, a regional protest of the transport sector at freight border crossings to the EU due to accumulated problems related to drivers' stays in Schengen countries, the latest being the new entry system into the EU.

The main coordinator of the Consortium, Velibor Peulić, said that the goal of the protest is not destabilization, but the urgent implementation of a professional, systemic, and sustainable solution in cooperation with competent institutions and the European Commission.

According to him, this sector, after a long-term, patient, and institutionally responsible approach, with years of communication with competent domestic and European institutions, has been brought into a situation where there is no longer a realistic possibility of further delaying the resolution of problems that directly threaten the right to work of professional drivers and the stability of supply chains.

He stated that during the protest, which begins at 12:00 PM, the entry and exit of freight vehicles to EU member states, including transit transport in that direction, will not be allowed, except for medical protection, military units, and live animals.

According to him, professional drivers from Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as Serbia, North Macedonia, and Montenegro, are exposed to unacceptable pressures, including arrests, deportations, and bans from entering the Schengen area for periods ranging from two months to two years.

Peulić emphasized that drivers do not represent illegal migrants, security threats, or illegal labor, but are a key operational segment of European and regional supply chains.

This practice, he stressed, creates serious inequality between carriers from the EU and carriers from non-EU countries, leading to the closure of companies, loss of drivers in conditions of their chronic shortage, and forced relocation of businesses to EU member states.

"This is no longer a matter of interpretation, nor of the technical application of information systems. This is a matter of the survival of domestic carriers, the right to work, and the preservation of Bosnia and Herzegovina's economic sovereignty in a segment directly related to the functioning of supply chains and the overall economy," said Peulić.

According to him, the support received so far from the Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Ministry of Communications and Transport of BiH is recognized and appreciated, but it is not sufficient if it is not translated into immediate, strong, and visible action towards the European Commission.

He stated that the Consortium calls on the Ministry of Communications and Transport of BiH to officially address the European Commission at the highest level with a request for a written, unified, and binding interpretation, and to use all mechanisms available to BiH through the Stabilization and Association Agreement, other international agreements, and political dialogue.

Peulić warned that if action is not taken now, it will be impossible to remedy the consequences later, there will be no time for corrections, because domestic carriers will already be pushed out, closed down, or forced to relocate.

"If no action is taken at this moment, it will no longer be possible to talk about 'omissions', 'misunderstandings', or 'different interpretations'. It will be about conscious inaction and its consequences," concluded Peulić, adding that this is no longer a technical or procedural issue, but a matter of survival for domestic carriers, and that any further delay or passivity means tacit acceptance of the elimination of domestic transport companies."