Croatia and Hungary are the first EU countries to announce relief for transporters who are already facing problems due to the latest restrictions on duration of stay in the Schengen area.
While Hungary’s announcements concern only Serbian transporters, Croatia is offering a concrete solution through a change to the Law on Foreigners. That will allow professional drivers from third countries who are formally employed by companies registered in Croatia to obtain a long-term visa. Precisely that was emphasized at Friday’s meeting of the working group with EC and Western Balkan representatives. There is no transitional solution for now.
The representatives of the working group stressed that any flexibility or relief was only possible at a national level, on which each EU member decided individually, i.e. not through a direct change to the common rule for crossing borders and duration of stay in the Schengen zone.
“It is true that Croatia is the first and only one taking initiatives to help and support all of us from the Western Balkans. We will have a meeting with the working group from Macedonia on Monday”, Biljana Muratovska of Makam-trans points out.