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Against the EU's EES system/ Truck drivers in several Balkan countries block border crossings

2026-01-29 07:36:00, Kosova & Bota CNA

Against the EU's EES system/ Truck drivers in several Balkan countries

On Wednesday (28.01.2026), on the third day of the protest, dozens of border crossings in Bosnia, Montenegro and North Macedonia were blocked. Serbian drivers also blocked border crossings into the Schengen area – creating long queues of trucks.

At the Bajakovo border crossing, the most important border crossing between Croatia and Serbia, trucks formed a column about two kilometers long on Wednesday, border police confirmed to AFP news agency. The Serbian Chamber of Commerce CCIS complained that the economies of the Western Balkans are losing about 100 million euros in export value every day.

Arrests of drivers cause border blockades

Freight forwarding associations coordinated protest actions against the digital system applied since October for the entry and exit of persons from non-EU countries. The Entry/Exit-System (EES) aims to avoid stamps in passports by digitally recording travel information and biometric data in a central register for the entire Schengen area – the main goal of applying this system is to protect the EU's external borders.

The background to the protest is that, according to the CCIS, drivers have recently been repeatedly arrested for violating the 90-day stay within a 180-day period in the EU. This regulation is not new, but the EES electronic system enables stricter control of non-EU citizens.

As a condition for lifting the blockade, the organizers are demanding negotiations for exceptional rules that at least guarantee that there will be no arrests of drivers.

EU the main trading partner for the Western Balkans

On Monday (26.01.2026), the EU Commission spokesperson communicated that the Brussels authorities are aware of the concerns expressed and are closely following the situation.

According to EU data, the main trading partner for the Western Balkan countries is the EU, accounting for 60 percent of the total trade volume in the region. In 2024, trade in goods between the EU and the Western Balkans reached a volume of over 83 billion euros. /DW





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