Road to the EU becomes a nightmare: Kilometre-long queues, endless waits

(Patria) - The new entry/exit system that European Union countries have fully implemented for so-called third-country citizens has already caused chaos at the borders. Numerous Bosnians and Herzegovinians who are travelling to the Croatian border for private or business reasons these days are facing problems. Here's how it all looks in practice.

Waiting to cross at the Gradiška border crossing has been exhausting and frustrating these days. The new EU entry system has almost paralyzed the borders, resulting in hours-long waits to enter Croatia. The queues are kilometres long. In the past few days, drivers say, the traffic was even heavier – some needed more than 20 hours to enter the EU, reports N1.

"There's a lot of waiting due to the procedures and everything. You need to have patience. Our people are asked to have their photos taken to be entered into the system, fingerprints. It's been like this for days, especially during holidays when the crowds are even bigger, but it can be busy on other days too".

"We've been witnessing this scene for days at the Gradiška border crossing, and it will surely continue in the coming days. For those heading to the EU, this is what awaits them: endless queues and hours and hours of waiting. This is what the new EU entry/exit system has brought so far".

Some travellers who arrived at the border in the early morning hours are still at the back of the queue, having not yet managed to even approach the border crossing of the Republic of Croatia. This has also made things difficult for those already registered in the new EU entry system.

"Long queues, long waits... it's tiring. I have Croatian papers, but my husband doesn't, so he has to get out to have his photo taken, etc. There's no end in sight," drivers told us.

Vinko Dragić said:

"I've been waiting for an hour, we have to wait, what can we do. We're going to Croatia to work. I haven't been there for half a year, this is my first time crossing. I don't know how it will all be, I have this border permit. We'll see".

For the EU, the EES system means better control of illegal entries, precise tracking of stays, and thus better surveillance. For BiH citizens, it currently means much longer delays. However, in the coming period, the crowds can only increase.

"Nothing will get better, especially now that the season is starting. People are going on vacation, returning, etc. It will be a disaster"; "It won't bring anything but queues and crowds. We've been waiting for two hours already. We'll probably arrive in three days," are just some of the drivers' comments.

And transporters are also waiting. Although they hoped that their days of stay registered before the full implementation of the system would be nullified, in practice there is no definitive rule.

Mirko Ivanović, Consortium Logistics:

"We have information from our drivers, mostly the Croatian police tell them that their days have been nullified since the start of the EES system implementation, but there are cases where drivers were turned back even after that. As for the waiting, last week was abnormal. People waited up to 20 hours to cross the border".

Although the system is expected to speed up traffic in the long run, the first days of implementation have caused nervousness among drivers and immense fatigue. Given that the peak summer season and holidays are yet to come, travellers' fears of losing days at the borders currently seem very justified.