Aleksandar Nikoloski: Bilateral deals reached with several countries to assist Macedonian transporters
Government negotiates individual agreements with Schengen states — Croatia and Switzerland have pacts, Romania to issue permits instead of visas; talks with Bulgaria, Greece and Austria continue.
Aleksandar Nikoloski, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Transport, said the government has concluded bilateral agreements with several European states to ease the movement of Macedonian professional drivers through Schengen transport corridors. He made the remarks in the podcast "Kade se parite."
Negotiations and concrete steps
Nikoloski said Skopje is pursuing individual bilateral talks with each country rather than a single EU-level fix. He confirmed that a bilateral agreement with Croatia is already in force and that Switzerland has also signed a similar arrangement.
On Romania, Nikoloski said the sides reached a solution under which Macedonian drivers will receive permits instead of visas. He added that negotiations with Bulgaria and Greece are ongoing, aiming to exempt drivers who enter and exit the same day from registration requirements.
“As a Ministry and as a Government we are doing everything to conclude bilateral agreements with the Schengen member states, and there is no one complete solution. I think this is an ordinary bureaucratic procedure and a bureaucratic decision-making system that is too slow and hard to change. This is a bureaucratic problem that is harmful both for countries outside and inside the Schengen area,” Nikoloski said.
Nikoloski warned that the current restrictions affect foreign direct investment in North Macedonia, noting that over 87 percent of FDI originates in EU countries, which also face difficulties finding alternative transport routes.
He said negotiations are in a final phase with additional European states to further ease movement for Macedonian drivers. Nikoloski also announced that an agreement with Austria could be expected soon, after intensive communication during the Macedonian–Austrian business forum organized by the Chamber of Commerce and the Trade Section at the Austrian Embassy in Skopje.
The government’s efforts come after a protest on August 31, when professional drivers and transporters organized by the Makam-Trans transport association parked about twenty trucks outside the Delegation of the European Union in Skopje. Drivers complained that days they spend abroad are counted as if they were tourists, affecting how their stays are calculated.
Photo: press material from the event
