Western Balkan Lorry Drivers Blockade EU Borders
- lorry drivers from Serbia, Bosnia adn Herzegovina, Montenegro, and North Macedonia blockaded over 20 border crossings with the European Union on Monday, January 27, 2026, protesting strict enforcement...
- Freight terminals across the four countries ground to a halt as drivers parked their vehicles at border checkpoints.
- Vesko Šljivančanin, director of the Association of International Hauliers of Montenegro, stated, "We are fighting for our companies to be competitive within the region, fighting for our employees,...
Western Balkan Lorry Drivers Block EU Border Crossings in Protest
lorry drivers from Serbia, Bosnia adn Herzegovina, Montenegro, and North Macedonia blockaded over 20 border crossings with the European Union on Monday, January 27, 2026, protesting strict enforcement of Schengen travel limits. The coordinated action,which halted freight traffic through a key corridor linking the EU with Turkey and the Middle East,is estimated to be causing €100 million in daily export losses.
Freight terminals across the four countries ground to a halt as drivers parked their vehicles at border checkpoints. Montenegro’s Adriatic port of Bar was also affected.
Vesko Šljivančanin, director of the Association of International Hauliers of Montenegro, stated, “We are fighting for our companies to be competitive within the region, fighting for our employees, for our families, for our very existence.”
Marko Čadež, president of Serbia’s Chamber of Commerce, reported the direct damage from blocked crossings and exports from the Western Balkans amounts to approximately €100 million per day. He added that production companies face penalties of between €10,000 and €50,000 per day for undelivered goods.
Čadež noted that roughly 10,000 companies export from Serbia to the EU, warning that the total financial impact could be considerable. he visited the Batrovci border crossing, where over 50 lorries blocked freight traffic.
According to Bosnia’s Logistika association, which represents 47,000 workers, more than 100 lorry drivers were deported last year for exceeding the 90-day limit allowed in the EU, with another 100 deportations announced last week. Nine drivers were arrested in Germany alone in the past seven days, Čadež said.
“We have reached the point where our drivers – and we ourselves – have effectively been deprived of the right to work, because our drivers are being arrested in the European Union,” said Mirko Ivanović, a Bosnian transport company representative.
Europe’s bureaucratic inflexibility
The protests center on the enforcement of existing Schengen regulations limiting non-EU citizens’ stays within the zone.