Traffic collapse in the south: queues up to 20 kilometers at the Croatia–Montenegro border

A complete traffic collapse hit the border area between Croatia and Montenegro during the day, with queues of cars over 20 kilometers long and waiting times reaching double-digit hours at the busiest crossings.

The queues formed at the Karasovići (Debeli Brijeg) and Vitaljina (Konfin) crossings and extend along the Adriatic Highway as far as Čilipi and Župa Dubrovačka, creating an almost total standstill since the early morning hours.

At the Karasovići crossing waits of more than 10 hours were reported, while endless queues of vehicles congested the coastal roads as tourist and transit traffic converged.

Pressure on transit and the composition of vehicles

The Municipality of Konavle reported that it is currently dealing with the arrival of around 10,000 vehicles, or nearly 40,000 people who are in transit and waiting to cross the border. The vehicles are mostly registered in France, Italy and Germany, and in many cases their final destinations are Albania and Kosovo.

A number of countries — Belgium, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Malta, the Netherlands, Portugal — and Switzerland (which is not a member of the EU but participates in Schengen) requested a temporary "freeze" of the EES (Entry/Exit System) procedure, under which third‑country nationals have their fingerprints taken and are photographed when entering and leaving the Schengen area. Croatia did not request a local or temporary suspension of biometric registration, and the European Commission rejected the requests from the other countries.

In other parts of the region, waiting times at Macedonian crossings are shorter: at Tabanovce the wait is about one hour, and at "Bogorodica" approximately half an hour. Drivers are warned to be cautious on certain road sections due to the risk of landslides.

Photo: Auto Club Croatia