Passengers and carriers traveling to Hungary they are used to big crowds and long waits border crossings, and the wait could be shorter since representatives of the government of Serbia and its northern neighbor signed a new agreement on border control in road, rail and water traffic between the two countries.
The agreement was signed on Wednesday (October 22) by the Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of Serbia and the Minister of Internal Affairs Ivica Dacic and Hungarian Minister of the Interior Sándor Pinter, announced the Ministry of the Interior of Serbia (MUP).
Dacic stated that the signing of this agreement will create conditions for a faster flow of people and goods between the two countries.
Shorter stays at the border?
Goran Aleksić, general director of Serbia Transport, expects shorter delays at the borders and positive effects of this agreement.
"All agreements with neighboring countries, especially with European Union countries, can only benefit the economy and transport," says Aleksić for "Vreme".
As he explains, the agreement creates conditions for a faster flow of people and goods between the two countries.
"Our waits at the borders were very long, from five to seven hours, and the very fact that the agreement includes the permission of the leadership of the two border police to jointly determine the opening time of the border crossings and to solve other issues in coordination is of great importance, because it will reduce the uncertainties that transporters sometimes encounter or some surprises in the procedures", believes Aleksić.
Agreement before the start of the application of the EES
Aleksić adds that the agreement was made at the right time, because the Hungarian border police will start implementing the Entry/Exit System - EES system of digital control or electronic control of the entry and exit of citizens from October 28.
"We're hoping for significant effects. In particular, if the dwell time is significantly reduced, that's immediately lower costs, lower labor hours, lower fuel costs."
On the occasion of the new rules for entry into the countries of the European Union and the upcoming start of the application of the EES, Minister Dacic asked Minister Pinter that members of the Hungarian police conduct border control with as little detention of Serbian citizens at border crossings as possible.
"We signed the previous agreement in 2012, however, in thirteen years, a lot has changed when it comes to the number of vehicles and the number of people crossing the border, the number and types of border crossings, working hours, and now, in the last few years, the announcement of the opening of the high-speed railway Budapest - Belgrade. It was necessary to consolidate all these changes and create conditions for the fastest possible flow of people and goods at the border," said Dačić.
The Minister of the Interior of Hungary, Sándor Pinter, said that the Agreement was signed, the goal of which is to allow citizens to cross border crossings as quickly and easily as possible.
Detention at the crossings Serbia - Hungary - Serbia
According to the data of the Automobile Association of Serbia at the Kelebija border crossing (between Serbia and Hungary), the current stay at the border crossings at the passenger terminals in both directions is about 30 minutes. The same holds at cargo terminals.
"The speed of passage is greatly influenced by the procedure and way of working of the border authorities at our neighbors, which additionally contributes to several hours of detention, therefore add the time required to pass through their terminals as well", it is written on the AMSS website.
They remind that the time spent at the Hungarian terminals should be added to this waiting time, which is often much longer compared to the waiting time at the Serbian crossings.
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