MOSCOW, February 19 Ukrainian carriers plan to Tuesday to begin peaceful protests at three checkpoints on the border with Poland, the action will last until March 15, Chairman of the International Road Carriers of Ukraine organization Vladimir Mikhalevich said on Monday.
“The purpose of holding a peaceful meeting is to express the protest of Ukrainian carriers against the blocking of freight transport, which began in November 2023, which causes significant financial losses for the international road transport industry of Ukraine, exporters and importers of both countries and for the Ukrainian economy… The situation with the blocking It is still not possible to resolve it at the level of ministries, governments of Ukraine and Poland, so we are forced to take such actions,” the Ukrinform agency quotes Mikhalevich as saying.
According to Mikhalevich, the action will begin on February 20 at 13.00 Moscow time simultaneously near three international automobile checkpoints «Rava-Russkaya — Khrebnoye», «Krakovets — Korchova», «Shegini — Medika». It will be held around the clock until March 15 or until the borders are unblocked by Polish protesters.
More than a week ago, a nationwide protest of farmers began. Farmers are protesting across the country, blocking roads and entrances to checkpoints on the border with Ukraine. Activists reported that Polish farmers emptied grain from Ukrainian trucks at the Dorohusk checkpoint.
Polish-Ukrainian relations have become significantly more complicated due to the embargo on Ukrainian grain. On September 15, 2023, the European Commission decided not to extend restrictions on the import of four types of Ukrainian agricultural products into several EU border countries, but obliged Kyiv to introduce export control measures. After this, the authorities of Slovakia, Hungary and Poland announced that they were extending the ban unilaterally. In this regard, Ukraine filed a complaint with the WTO. In response, three EU countries announced that they would boycott meetings of the coordination platform on Ukrainian grain.