Long lines of trucks have formed at the Merdare crossing due to detailed inspections at the Kosovo terminal

Just a few days after the Kosovo government partially lifted the ban on importing Serbian goods—allowing imports of goods produced in Serbia only through the Merdare crossing—a three-kilometer-long line of trucks has formed at that border from central Serbia.

Trucks transporting Serbian goods are being thoroughly and manually inspected at the Kosovo terminal, with inspections lasting up to two hours. This has caused a backlog, with a line of trucks stretching from the Serbian side all the way to the village of Merdare.

This decision by Pristina, to allow the flow of Serbian goods only at Merdare, has also created problems for truck drivers not transporting Serbian goods, as well as for those in transit.

Truck drivers at the Merdare crossing are waiting for several hours, and some even for several days. They have to manage to find food and water since they don't have enough supplies, and the reason for the slowed traffic is unknown to them.

Aleksandar Bogdanovic is transporting goods from China. He has been waiting in line for over four hours, and the line of trucks in front of him stretches nearly two and a half kilometers.

"I'm transporting goods from China, it's a shipment by sea. I've been waiting for four hours, maybe more, and I don't know how much longer I'll wait. I don't know what the problem is, probably someone is causing an issue and doesn't want to let the goods through. No one has been able to explain it to me. I'm just in transit; I don't have a delivery in Kosovo, but in Albania," he said.

"We've been waiting since 8 a.m. yesterday. Nobody knows anything. For now, we have food supplies, but we'll see what happens later," said Uros Kalinic.

"I arrived last night around 11 p.m. This is the first time there's been such a crowd, and nobody can explain what's going on," said Darko Andjelkovic from Belgrade.

"I'm not going to the terminal, I'm transporting goods from Italy. There are people here carrying goods from Spain, Slovenia, Germany. It's disgraceful and shameful what they are doing to us, and everyone depends on us drivers," said Zvonimir Ilic from Kursumlija.

Kosovo's Prime Minister Albin Kurti announced at a press conference on October 7 that the Kosovo government had replaced the ban on importing goods from Serbia with enhanced inspections.

"Until the scanners arrive, we will only allow goods to enter through Merdare because the security situation hasn't changed," Kurti said.

The first truck carrying Serbian goods entered Kosovo the following day, at noon, after a year and a half of the ban. The inspection at the terminal lasted two hours.