Muratovska: Carriers to meet in Skopje to define next steps in communication with Brussels

Biljana Muratovska, Secretary General of the Macedonian Transport Association Makam-trans, announced that carriers from North Macedonia, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Montenegro will meet in Skopje on Tuesday to define further steps in their communication with the authorities in Brussels regarding a solution to the issue of drivers' permitted length of stay in the European Union.

Muratovska told Kosovo Online that, at a meeting held on August 4, a temporary model that would not require legislative amendments was proposed to the European Commission Working Group tasked with addressing the issue of the permitted stay of Western Balkan carriers in the Schengen Area.

As she explained, the proposal is for the time spent by Western Balkan drivers in the Schengen Area to be calculated in hours, which would enable approximately 80 percent of drivers to remain there for longer than the currently prescribed 90-day limit.

"This could be achieved solely by specifying the method of calculation, without any need to amend the legislation. A meeting of representatives of carriers from North Macedonia, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Montenegro has tentatively been agreed for August 11 in Skopje, with the aim of defining the associations' next steps and further communication with the administration in Brussels," Muratovska said.