Evzoni Border Chaos: How Serbs Reach Greece Faster
Crossings into Greece are taking up to four hours, but the EES system is suspended for Serbian travelers all summer. Here is how to dodge the queues and which crossings to use.
- Crossings into Greece toward North Macedonia have seen waits of up to four hours, while the delay on the Macedonian side was around five minutes.
- The EES system is suspended for Serbian citizens from June 1 to August 30, 2026.
- The golden rule: travel on a weekday, ideally Tuesday or Wednesday, and avoid Saturday and Sunday.
- Instead of the busiest Evzoni crossing, try the alternatives Dojran and Medzitlija.
Worried you will spend half a day at the border this summer instead of on the beach? You do not have to, if you know when and which way to go. The start of the season has already brought hours-long queues at the Evzoni crossing, but a few practical moves can save you both nerves and time.
The picture is uneven for now. The entry from the Greek side toward North Macedonia has recently seen waits of up to four hours. On the Macedonian side the delay was around five minutes, which means the problem is not the number of officers but the fact that everyone tries to cross at the same time. The jams come from tour operators rotating their groups and from travelers trying to use the weekend to set off. In other words, we all leave at once, so we all wait together.
What does the EES suspension actually mean for Serbs?
EES is the new European entry and exit system that electronically logs the crossings of travelers from outside the Schengen zone. The good news ahead of this holiday season is that the system is suspended for Serbian citizens entering Greece from June 1 to August 30, 2026. In practice, that means no extra scanning or registration over the summer that would slow you down at the booth itself.
The consul general in Thessaloniki says the checks will be applied during night hours and will not create additional congestion. That is a useful detail for you as a traveler. If you really have to cross at night, that check will not hold you up the way a daytime rush-hour queue would. Our recommendation is to treat this as relief, but not as a guarantee that there will be no queues at all. The system is suspended, but the human habit of traveling on weekends is not.
How do you cross the border without a four-hour wait?
Here is a plan you can use for your very next departure, step by step.
First, pick your day. The golden rule for travelers is to avoid Saturday and Sunday and travel on weekdays, ideally Tuesday or Wednesday. That is when the rotation of tour groups is smallest, so the queues are shorter too.
Second, pick your crossing. Evzoni is the busiest, and that is exactly why the longest jams form there. As an alternative, consider the Dojran and Medzitlija crossings. They carry less traffic, so even when you add a few kilometers, you usually gain on time.
Third, plan your departure hour. If you can avoid the afternoon and evening weekend wave, you have avoided most of the queue. An early morning start on a weekday is usually the calmest.
Finally, prepare for the scenario where there is a jam anyway. Water, a charger, something for the kids in the car, and a full tank before the border make the difference between stress and a calm wait. This is tried and tested by anyone who regularly drives south.
A holiday in Greece is still one of the simplest trips from Serbia, it just takes a little planning around timing and crossings. When did you last get stuck at the border, and which crossing works best for you on the way to the Greek beaches?
