Truck drivers from six Western Balkan countries have threatened to block access roads and border crossings to European Union member states unless Brussels addresses their demands by June 16, regional transport associations said on Saturday.
More than 300,000 professional drivers from Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, North Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia face increasing restrictions under EU rules that treat them as tourists, limiting their stay to 90 days within any 180-day period in the Schengen zone.
At a meeting held in Bijeljina, Bosnia and Herzegovina, representatives of transport associations from the Western Balkans (WB6) said they would launch coordinated blockades unless the EU recognizes drivers’ right to work based on the AETR agreement—an international treaty regulating the work of professional drivers.
“This was a unanimous conclusion of all participants. If there is no written confirmation of the correct interpretation of AETR and the protection of drivers’ employment status in accordance with international law by June 16, blockades will begin simultaneously in all six countries,” said the Consortium Logistics BiH, which hosted the meeting.
Drivers argue that their stay in the EU should be calculated using data from digital tachographs, which record driving and work hours, rather than border entry stamps. Current practices, they say, have led to detentions and entry bans for drivers accused of overstaying their allowed time.
The Western Balkan states are full signatories of the AETR convention, which predates both the Schengen Agreement and bilateral Stabilisation and Association Agreements with the EU. The AETR defines driving and rest times, and recognizes tachograph records as legal documentation of a driver’s activity.
Transport associations contend that EU authorities are ignoring these international obligations, threatening the livelihoods of drivers and disrupting trade between the region and the bloc.
The European Commission has not yet responded publicly to the demands. A prolonged standoff could significantly impact cross-border freight movement between the EU and Southeast Europe.