Ambassador Tomašević: All truck drivers from Serbia have crossed the Ukrainian-Romanian border

In an interview for TV Prva, Ambassador Tomašević said that last night 11 trucks with Serbian licence plates crossed the Ukrainian-Romanian border, and that this morning 26 more trucks did as much.

"This practically means that all our carriers, i.e. drivers, have crossed the Ukrainian-Romanian border and are headed for Serbia. This is the most important thing, bearing in mind that the delay lasted for a very long time, and that they had all been waiting to complete the customs procedures for nearly six full days." Ambassador Tomašević noted.

The Ambassador also clarified that the Serbian embassy to Bucharest had appealed to truck drivers yesterday to be patient - considering that the customs procedure would not be as expedient as one could expect, and that the Serbian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and other line authorities have done all they could to end the delay. and create the conditions for the trucks to be on their way.

Asked whether Serbian truckers had faced problems and provocations because of the goods they transporting, Ambassador Tomašević said that he could not speculate on whether the goods were of Russian and Belarusian origin because there is no relative evidence to that effect.

"Formally, we have never received such information from the Ukrainian side, but what is certain is that after an impasse lasting a number of days, some nervousness has become inevitable. What we also must also understand is that a state of war exists in Ukraine and that the border crossings were also overwhelmed by the inflow of humanitarian aid, having to deal with the transit of civilians and probably the lack of staff. I cannot fathom the reason for this having taken so much time. I have offered some of the possible reasons." - Ambassador Tomašević said.

According to the Ambassador, representatives of the Serbian Embassy were constantly in communication with the drivers, and the Republic of Serbia, as well as our diplomatic offices, were prepared to review all alternative ways of helping truck drivers should the crisis have continued.

"This is the best possible scenario, since they and as the goods they are transporting proceeded onward to the Republic of Serbia. Therefore, I would like to thank all those that took part in this process." Ambassador Tomašević said.

Asked about the current situation in Romania regarding refugees from Ukraine, Ambassador Tomašević said that Romania readily welcomed the wave of refugees, which was already well over 100,000 people two days ago.

"At this moment, we cannot say with certainty how many are still in Romania because it is an ongoing process. Nevertheless Romania is certainly capable of accepting tens of thousands of refugees from Ukraine and accommodating them within its territory for a while. We will monitor the situation from day to day. Hopefully, this wave of refugees will dwindle down soon and the situation on the ground will calm down." - Ambassador Tomašević concluded.