Ambassador Košutić: Serbian drivers have entered Poland and are on their way to Serbia

08. Mar 2022.
Early this morning, around 4 a.m. Serbian drivers and their lorries that were blocked on the Ukrainian-Polish border for days were allowed to enter Poland and are now on their way to Serbia, the Serbian Ambassador to Poland H.E. Nebojša Košutić told the Tanjug news agency.

Ambassador Košutić also revealed that official contact was established with the Ukrainian authorities a few days ago in order to help these Serbian citizens leave the country, and that the initial response was that a law on war administration has been introduced, revoking the authority of the customs bodies regarding the Serbian drivers - further complicating the situation administratively, so that in the end the whole situation was resolved with a rather informal approach.

Asked if there were other similar situations regarding Serbian drivers in Ukraine, the Ambassador observed that it is a huge country and that Serbia has an extremely broad trade with this region, which makes it difficult at this time to asses with certainty if any other Serbian vehicles are blocked, except for a specific case of a driver from Serbia stranded near Kiev.

Ambassador Košutić emphasized that, unfortunately, Serbia had to move the diplomatic mission from Ukraine, but that the embassy in Warsaw and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Belgrade are working with the Ukrainian authorities to ensure the permission for a Serbian driver currently blocked near Semipolka near Kiev to proceed and return to Serbia.

The Ambassador also said that a large number of people cross from Ukraine to Poland every day, and that according to the latest data the total number is more that 1.1 million so far, adding that that the entire Polish society has mobilized to help the incoming Ukrainian citizens - who are mostly women, children and the elderly.

Source: Tanjug