Over the Christmas weekend, Polish farmers paused their part in a protest against Ukraine truckers at one border crossing point. Truckers, who are being undercut by cheap rates given to Ukrainian outfits since the beginning of the war with Russia, have vowed to harden their position.
Ukrainian officials reportedly issued a statement that traffic had returned to normal at the Medyka-Shehyni crossing. That particular point of entry is a vital truck transportation route between the major cities of Lviv in Western Ukraine and Poland’s Kraków.
“Registration and entry of trucks to Ukraine is going ahead normally. Border guards are working together with customs officers to ensure that as many trucks as possible cross the border,” according to a Ukraine statement.
Following talks between Roman Kondrow, a leader of the farmers’ revolt, and Agriculture Minister Czeslaw Siekierski resulted in a temporary resolution. However, the farmers have indicated they could resume their blockade of Ukraine’s commercial motor vehicles as early as January 2, 2024.
The border-crossing protests have been in play since November, and the actions could continue without intervention into March. Ukrainian truckers and officials have complained the shutdown has stopped the flow of supplies to the battlefield, giving Russia a strategic advantage in the war.
“The level of exports from Ukraine fell by 40 percent in November due to the blockade,” Ukraine’s head of finance committee chair Danylo Hetmantsev reportedly said. “Every penny we collect now goes to the army, as we currently do not finance anything except the army through taxes. [So] that is the money not received by the army.”
For their part, Polish truckers see no reason the EU cannot re-level the playing field and protect their livelihood as well. Truckers continued to prevent the free flow of goods and materials from Ukraine on Monday. Ukraine celebrated Christmas on Sunday, Dec. 24, with the festival of Wigilia.
Many were outraged that the farmers had effectively made a bargain instead of maintaining solidarity.
“We are intensifying the protest, (allowing only) one truck every three hours,” Edyta Ozygała, one of the leaders of the trucker’s protest in Dorohusk, reportedly said.
He also went on the record stating that military and humanitarian aid would not be held up. The primary international trade concern for truckers and farmers has been cheap grain. The EU reportedly waived the cost of permits for only Ukrainian truckers when the war began.
Sources:
https://www.politico.eu/article/polish-trucker-halt-ukraine-border-crossing-blockade/
Good for them to stand up. Same happening in United States. It’s disgusting.