Nikolloski: Work Underway on Agreement with Germany for Hauliers

The Government is using all available resources to assist hauliers, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Transport Aleksandar Nikolloski said today. According to him, one of the steps being taken is the conclusion of bilateral agreements with member states of the Schengen area.

Speaking in Struga after a visit and responding to journalists’ questions about the protests announced by Macedonian hauliers, Nikolloski said there was full understanding of their demands. He explained that the issue concerns the rules applied and defined within the Schengen area, while the Government’s option is to reach separate agreements with countries in the zone.

“We have full understanding for the hauliers and are trying, within our means, to help and find solutions. These are rules within the Schengen area and rules regulated by the Schengen area. What we can do is sign bilateral agreements with member states of the Schengen area. We are already doing this and have reached agreements with several countries, while in the coming period we will work intensively on agreements with other countries. A high-level meeting with the Austrian government has been announced for September, while a meeting with the Slovenian government has also been announced for October,” Nikolloski said.

He noted that negotiations also include Germany, with the aim of covering the routes most frequently used by hauliers from North Macedonia. Nikolloski said agreements have already been secured with Switzerland, Croatia and Romania.

“We are not stopping and are continuing to work on bilateral agreements with all countries willing to engage in such cooperation. We aim to generally cover the routes most frequently used by Macedonian hauliers. We already have agreements with Switzerland, Croatia and Romania. We are also working with Germany, and in this way we are covering the countries with the highest traffic volume. This is what we can do and what we are doing during this period,” Nikolloski stressed.