Fines given automatically to drivers of foreign cars by the “Safe City” system need to be paid at the border.
At the Tabanovce border crossing between North Macedonia and Serbia, queues of foreign drivers were observed on August 19th, the first day of the application of the new rules. They were waiting to pay fines for traffic violations recorded by the cameras of the Safe City system. This caused kilometer-long queues for all vehicles, fined or not.
The driver whose vehicle is registered as a misdemeanor receives a report and a misdemeanor payment order. If he does not pay the fine, he can be brought before the competent court in an expedited procedure. Macedonian drivers receive the report based on their registration via SMS and email. For foreign cars, the report is established when existing the country. The procedure applies to all violations recorded by cameras from February 1st, 2026.
This means that foreign drivers, while passing through North Macedonia, may also face fines for previously recorded violations. Foreign vehicles that commit a traffic violation will not be detained upon exiting the country, but drivers will receive an official notification that they will not be able to re-enter the Macedonian borders if they do not pay the fine. According to the Ministry of Interior, 33 722 violations have been committed by foreign vehicles between February and May.
With the “Safe City” system, traffic violations are captured with cameras, sensors, recording devices and by mobile units. The system captures speeding, running a red light, expired vehicle registration and improper parking and processes the fine automatically.
Traffic regulations:
Speed limits:
| Highways | 130 kmh |
| Roads reserved for motor vehicles | 110 kmh |
| other roads | 80 kmh |
| Settlements | 50 kmh |
Headlights are required all the time. Seatbelts are mandatory, mobile phone use forbidden, blood alcohol level limit is 0,5ppm. (Source: ADAC)
The system currently covers the highways on Corridor 10 (North-South), 8 (East-West) and the cities of Skopje, Kumanovo and Tetovo. The tolerance for speeding is 6 km (up to a limit of 100 kmh) and 8 km (limit above 100 kmh). The fines for speeding go from 20 € (up to 20 kmh) to 400 € (over 50 kmh) and are higher inside cities.
For travelers from Greece or Turkey, an alternative route is by passing through Bulgaria, Romania and Hungary. All those countries are inside the Schengen zone, thus avoiding non-Schengen borders and related waiting times.
Leave a Reply