Freight traffic at key border crossings between Serbia and Croatia has come to a standstill after Serbian truck drivers launched a week-long protest against the European Union's new digital Entry/Exit System. 

The demonstrations, scheduled to last seven days, have also spread to Bosnia and Herzegovina, where drivers blocked crossings with Croatia in a show of regional solidarity.

The protesters argue that the EU's system, which digitally tracks the movement of non-EU citizens, enforces the rule allowing a maximum stay of 90 days within any 180-day period in a way that makes professional trucking work nearly impossible. 

Drivers say the regulations, designed primarily for tourists and short-term visitors, fail to account for the realities of cross-border freight transport, where frequent short trips are routine.

Under the new system, each entry into the EU counts toward the 90-day limit, even if a driver spends only hours on EU territory. Serbian and Bosnian hauliers say that, over time, their permitted days are rapidly exhausted, effectively barring them from continuing to work on EU routes. 

Reports of arrests and deportations have heightened concerns, including a recent case involving a Serbian driver detained in the German port city of Rostock for exceeding the allowed stay.

Authorities in Belgrade say the issue has been repeatedly raised with Brussels. Serbia has submitted several proposals aimed at exempting professional drivers from strict application of the rule or introducing a separate regime for transport workers. So far, officials say, no compromise has been reached.

The European Union has suggested that non-EU drivers obtain EU work permits as a way to avoid the problem. However, Serbian officials warn that such a solution would have serious economic consequences for the region. 

Serbia's Minister for European Integration, Nemanja Starović, said requiring drivers to seek EU work permits would encourage them to relocate permanently, damaging transport sectors across the Western Balkans and disrupting family life for thousands of workers.

Transport companies share those concerns. Business owners warn that if the current rules remain unchanged, both drivers and firms may be forced to move operations to EU member states such as Hungary, Croatia or Slovenia, accelerating a drain of skilled labor from Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina.

For now, the protests are scheduled to last seven days, with passenger traffic continuing to flow normally. But truckers have issued a warning: when the Entry/Exit System becomes fully operational in March without adjustments for professional drivers, it would severely disrupt regional supply chains and trade between the Balkans and the European Union.