Sawt Falasteen - Bosnian truckers block deliveries in protest over EU rules

Around 6,000 truckers brought the majority of the Balkan nations' deliveries to a grinding halt, causing traffic jams, amid a push for better working conditions for drivers operating in the country's leading export market, the EU.

The EU accounted for around 64 percent of Bosnia's foreign trade last year, according to official figures.

More than 90 percent of goods are transported by road.

"We have halted our supply chains throughout Bosnia and Herzegovina," said Velibor Peulic from the country's main truckers' association, Konzorcijum logistika BiH.

The union had already prevented around 4,000 tonnes of goods from arriving in the capital Sarajevo, Peulic said.

For months, representatives of the sector, which has between 15,000 and 18,000 drivers, have been asking the authorities to negotiate with the EU to change a rule they label "discriminatory" against them.

Their stay in the bloc, which Bosnia aspires to join, is limited to 90 days within a 180-day period, the same as afforded to a typical tourist.

The rule dates back to 2008, when Bosnia signed a trade and aid pact with the EU, the first official step on the country's long path towards full membership of the political and economic bloc.

The drivers seek an exemption from the 90-day rule or for their visits to be measured in hours instead of days.

"Once the supply chains are shut down, it will be visible in every city... We hope that the ministries will start doing their job as of today," Peulic said.

Around 10 lorry border crossings are blocked, most of them on the border with EU member Croatia, according to the BIHAMK motoring club.

Although the truckers' aim was not to block road traffic, their action has caused significant delays at the entrances to several cities, including the capital Sarajevo, BIHAMK said.

E.Qaddoumi--SF-PST