Since 7 April, new Schengen rules on border control of passengers have been applied in order to prevent threats to internal security and public order of EU member states.
This means that, in addition to citizens of third countries, which Montenegro belongs to, citizens of EU member states will be thoroughly checked at border crossings as well, which will cause additional waiting times and crowds during the border checks.
Until the regulation was amended, border police officers conducted only basic checks on travel documents of EU citizens.
“After the new regulation has entered into force, the travel documents of EU citizens will also be checked in the Schengen Information System (SIS), the Interpol’s database of stolen, lost, damaged and abused travel documents, as well as in corresponding national databases of EU member states. This means that border police officers of EU member states will thoroughly check the travel documents of all passengers using special travel document readers on every border crossing,” the Ministry of Interior stated.
In accordance with the regulation, Montenegrin citizens who intend to travel to EU member states are advised the following:
- to check the status of their travel documents prior to departure, especially if the documents were stolen, lost, misused or damaged, in order to ensure that the data in the travel document have been correctly entered in the national and other databases;
- to check whether their travel document is valid;
- to ask for information about the situation on the border crossing before departure at No 122, Police Directorate’s Operational Communication Centre and to cross the state border at border crossings with less frequency of traffic or to travel in the periods of the day or week when jams are less common;
- to avoid travelling on weekends, to be patient and follow the instructions of border police officers of EU member states.
