Peak summer holiday travel created severe congestion at the Bajakovo-Batrovci border crossing between Croatia and Serbia on Saturday. Motorists heading from Croatia into Serbia encountered queues stretching up to seven kilometers with wait times reaching eight hours, while temperatures exceeded 95 degrees Fahrenheit. Heavy traffic also flowed in the opposite direction, with many holiday travelers moving from Serbia into Croatia, which remains a major tourist destination in the region.
The border delays affected travelers from multiple countries attempting to return home or reach vacation destinations. One traveler from Turkey reported waiting two hours while exhausted and hungry, while a 72-year-old frequent border crosser from the region expressed shock at the unprecedented congestion level he had witnessed.
The crossing between European Union member Croatia and non-EU member Serbia typically experiences its heaviest traffic during holiday weekends, with particularly intense flows occurring on August 1 when summer vacationers from across Europe and neighboring nations converge at the frontier. The delays on Saturday coincided with the continued operation of the European Union’s Entry-Exit System, a biometric screening mechanism that replaced traditional passport stamping and has been in widespread use since April. The potential impact of the EES system on processing times for non-EU travelers remained unclear, though the system had previously been suspended in certain locations to expedite border crossings.
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