The Union of Road Hauliers of Slovakia (UNAS) has announced its decision to resume blocking truck traffic through the Slovak border crossing point Vysne Nemecke-Uzhhorod on Monday, December 11, according to the UNAS Facebook page on Sunday.
“The Union of Road Carriers of Slovakia (UNAS) decided on 10.12.2023 to extend the protest at the Vysne Nemecke/Uzhhorod border crossing from 11.12.2023 from 15:00 until further notice,” the statement reads.
The carriers warn that they will “block the entry to the territory of the Slovak Republic for freight transportation. Personal transportation will not be restricted in any way.”
“This decision was made by the Presidium based on an assessment of the information received and its impact on the Slovak road transport market. We join the protests organized in Poland from 06.11.2023 and from 11.12.2023 also in Hungary,” UNAS said.
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy met in Buenos Aires with the newly elected President of Argentina Javier Millais. “I met with Javier Millais and congratulated him on his official inauguration as President of Argentina,” he wrote on his Telegram channel on Sunday evening.
“Today in the squares and streets of Buenos Aires, the word “freedom” – libertad – was heard very often. And this unites us – Ukraine and Argentina. We really value freedom, we really defend it, and we are really ready to strengthen freedom together,” Zelenskyy emphasized during his meeting with Javier Millais.
As of Sunday morning, December 10, about 3,500 trucks are queuing to enter Ukraine at the Ukrainian-Polish border, according to the spokesman for the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine (SBGS), Andriy Demchenko.
“The situation is almost unchanged. Four directions are blocked. “Rava-Ruska – Khrebenne, Yahodyn – Dorohusk, Krakovets – Korchova, Shehyny – Medyka. As of this morning, according to the information we have from the Polish border guards, almost 3,500 trucks are in line to cross into Ukraine,” Demchenko said on the air of the national telethon on Sunday.
The SBGS spokesman noted that the largest number of trucks is opposite the Shehyni checkpoint – 1,200, and the Yahodyn checkpoint – almost 900.
“Of course, during the day there is a certain movement of trucks both entering Ukraine and leaving Ukraine in the direction of Poland, but there is no dynamics and intensity that was before November 6,” added Demchenko.
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy met with Uruguayan President Luis Lacalle Pou during a working visit to Argentina.
As reported on the website of the head of the Ukrainian state on Sunday, Zelensky thanked for Uruguay’s position within the International Maritime Organization in support of the resolution on the impact of Russia’s armed invasion of Ukraine on international shipping, adopted in December this year.
“Today I have the opportunity to personally thank you and the people of your country for supporting the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine,” he said.
Zelenskyy emphasized that Ukraine is working to implement the Ukrainian formula for peace, which is one of the key political instruments to end the war. He praised the participation of the Uruguayan representative in the third meeting of national security and foreign policy advisers on the implementation of the Peace Formula.
The President of Ukraine expressed hope for the participation of the Uruguayan side in the fourth meeting of the advisers in January next year, where, inter alia, it is planned to discuss the preparation of the first inaugural Global Peace Summit.
Special attention was paid to the possibility of holding a Ukraine-Latin America summit.
Zelenskyy invited Luis Lacalle Pou to pay a visit to Ukraine.
On December 11, Hungarian hauliers will hold a protest on the border with Ukraine, demanding the abolition of the “transport visa-free regime”, which will take place near the Záhony-Chop checkpoint, the Association of Hungarian Trucking Contractors MKFE reports.
“The road carriers demand an immediate revision of the agreement and the restoration of license quotas for Ukrainian-Hungarian transportation, as well as effective and intensive official control over Ukrainian carriers,” the statement said.
The protesters say they want to draw the attention of the European Commission and the Hungarian government to what they see as the serious consequences of the agreement between the EU, Ukraine and Moldova, which partially liberalizes road transportation and puts many Hungarian businesses in a critical situation that distorts the market.
“Road carriers demand an immediate revision of the agreement and the restoration of license quotas for Ukrainian-Hungarian transportation, as well as effective and intensive official control over Ukrainian carriers,” the statement said.
The Association noted that the police allowed the demonstration announced by the Hungarian carriers.
Bulgaria’s parliament has overridden the presidential veto on an agreement to supply Ukraine with used armored personnel carriers (APCs), ratified earlier by parliament, The Sofia Globe reports.
“The Bulgarian National Assembly voted on December 8 to override President Rumen Radev’s veto of the agreement between the Bulgarian Ministry of Interior and the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense on Bulgaria’s supply of used APCs to Ukraine, ratified by parliament last month,” the newspaper said.
The motion to override the veto was passed with 161 votes in favor and 55 against.
The agreement stipulates that Bulgaria will supply APCs and existing weapons, as well as spare parts. The vehicles were purchased in the 1980s and have been mothballed for several decades.
In addition, on December 8, the Bulgarian National Assembly voted overwhelmingly (145 in favor, 55 against) to provide additional military assistance to Ukraine, to allow the use of Bulgarian airspace for training Ukrainian F-16 pilots, and to allow a limited number of Ukrainian military personnel to transit or stay in Bulgaria for training.
Additional military assistance would include Bulgaria providing Ukraine with malfunctioning, obsolete, and surplus air defense missiles. The military assistance also includes allowing Ukrainian infantry or mechanized companies of up to 160 personnel per year to transit or stay in Bulgaria for training.
