Serbian driver licenses remain unrecognized in Germany – Signing of Joint Statement expected

Citizens of Serbia will soon be able to exchange their driver licenses for German ones without having to take a test, writes Deutsche Welle (DW) and adds that a Joint Statement is expected to be signed in Berlin, following which the same will be done in Belgrade.

DW says that Germany has signed bilateral agreements on mutual recognition of driver licenses with several countries, among them the countries of the EU, Australia, USA, Canada... but not with Serbia.

In mid-December 2016, the local media reported that it would change on January 1, 2017, but the agreement has not yet been realized.

As Berlin and Belgrade officials say for DW, the signing of the Joint Statement on procedures for substitution of driver licenses agreed between the Serbian Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Federal Ministry of Transport of Germany is still waited for. This might be expected to happen in the next few weeks, though neither party wanted to speculate on the deadlines.

– Negotiations have progressed considerably. The versions in German, English and Serbian, however, need to be reviewed internationally once more, as there were slight changes made to the draft in late December – says the response by the Federal Foreign Office of Germany.

The Serbian Ministry of Internal Affairs confirms that they are waiting for Berlin to sign the agreement.

– Following the signing of the Joint Statement by the Federal Republic of Germany, it will be delivered to the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Serbia to be signed by the police director, whereby the Joint Statement will come into effect – they say for Deutsche Welle.

Ministarstvo unutrašnjih poslova Republike Srbije

driver license Serbia

agreement of Germany and Serbia on mutual recognition of driver licenses

recognition of Serbia driver licenses in Germany

driver licenses in Germany

Joint Statement on procedures for substitution of driver licenses

Federal Ministry of Transport of Germany

Federal Foreign Office of Germany