After a meeting of the Working Group for the Coordination of Activities Regarding the Issue of Drivers' Stay in the Schengen Zone, Forto said that urgent talks have been announced with the Veterinary Office, entity prime ministers and trade ministers, as well as freight forwarder associations, in order to improve the efficiency of border crossings.
The problem of drivers staying in the Schengen zone
He stated that there is no news regarding the problem of drivers' residence in the EU, except that they are insisting on a meeting with the Croatian Government on this issue.
"The European Commission has instructed the Western Balkan countries to talk bilaterally with EU countries, and that the European Commission will send notes to countries on the Schengen border to develop a more tolerant program to alleviate this problem until a systemic solution is reached," Forto told reporters, Srna reports.
Speaking about yesterday's meeting that representatives of the "Logistics BiH" Consortium convened in Gradiška with authorities at the entity and BiH levels, Forto said that he was not invited to that meeting, but only the entity prime ministers and representatives of the Council of Ministers.
Transporters unhappy with slow progress
Sanel Hodžić from the Logistics Consortium said that most institutions are still at the "starting point", and that the sector's specific demands have not been realized despite earlier promises.
Hodžić emphasized the rule of drivers' stay in the EU "90 days in 180 days" as a key problem, but that, in addition, internal issues must also be resolved, including the return of excise taxes and discounts on road tolls in the entities.
Possible consequences and warnings about blockages
He warned that failure to resolve this problem could lead to serious disruption of transportation capacities, and emphasized that protests and blockades are not the goal, but rather a consequence of the lack of institutional solutions.
According to him, transport operators are also not satisfied with the fact that no official meeting with the Croatian authorities has been organized so far, despite earlier announcements by the Chairwoman of the Council of Ministers, Borjana Krišto.
Responding to a question about possible new blockades, Hodžić said that the plenum of the "Logistics" Consortium needs time for "things to settle down" and to see in which direction they will go next.
