Polish farmers who have been blocking the Ukrainian-Polish border are ready to resume their protest on January 2-3 if they do not receive written assurances from the Polish government that their demands will be met, the Polish TV channel TVP Info reports, citing a statement by the head of the National Council of Agrarian Chambers, Viktor Shmulevych.
“The Minister of Agriculture of Poland, after consultations with the government, must satisfy the demands of the farmers who suspended the protest on the Polish-Ukrainian border on Christmas Eve. The resumption of their activities depends on a written statement on the fulfillment of their basic requirements,” the Polish politician said.
The publication reminded that the picketers, who are associated, in particular, with the Podkarpackie Oszukanej Wsi (Deceived All), demand the abolition of the increase in agricultural tax, easier access to soft loans to maintain liquidity of their farms, as well as subsidies for corn in the amount of 1000 zlotys per hectare.
In an interview with TVP Info on Tuesday, Polish Agriculture Minister Czeslaw Sekerski said that work in this area is ongoing.
“I was at the border where I talked to the protesters. But legislative decisions are needed to prepare solutions. We are waiting for the #UE to agree to subsidize corn. We want to preserve low-interest loans. We also want local governments to be able to exempt farmers from agricultural tax increases without losing themselves,” the Polish Ministry of Agriculture quoted Sekerski as saying on Twitter.
Commenting on the demand of the protesting farmers, who insist on regulating the conditions of food imports from Ukraine, Sekerski explained that a trilateral agreement between Warsaw, Kyiv and Brussels is needed.
“Until it is lifted, the embargo on grain imports will remain in place. We have to keep the embargo in place until the conditions that would replace this situation are determined, i.e. limiting the volume of possible inflow of specific agricultural goods. There is some experience that Ukraine has already gained in its relations with Romania and Bulgaria when it comes to restrictions. This will allow us to control these processes,” the minister was quoted as saying by polskieradio24.pl.
Commenting on Sekersky’s interview on TVP Info, the head of the National Council of Agrarian Chambers, Shmulevych, said that the minister is a member of the government and is responsible for the sector that falls within his competence.
“Therefore, if the minister makes such statements, his words are sacred, and I think he has the approval of the government and there should be no problems in this matter,” Shmulevich assessed the situation.
The Polish edition emphasized that a group of Polish farmers is ready to resume the protest on January 2 or 3 in the absence of a written statement from the Polish government on the satisfaction of their demands.
The Polish government is making efforts to effectively represent the interests of Polish carriers and drivers, which will lead to a weakening and, as a result, an end to the blockade on the Polish-Ukrainian border, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said on Wednesday at a press conference after a government meeting.
“I don’t think we will achieve the maximum demanded by the Polish protesting carriers, but it seems that what can be achieved will allow us to defuse emotions and perhaps quickly lift the blockade on the border. I think we are close to believing that our actions can bring results – both actions in Kyiv and negotiations in Brussels,” he was quoted as saying by polskieradio24.pl.
Tusk also said that after the government meeting, a meeting of the Security Committee of the Council of Ministers was held, during which Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski reported on his visit to Kyiv.
“It confirmed what we all know and feel, that the situation at the front is difficult,” the Prime Minister said.
He noted that “in general, the situation in Ukraine is quite dramatic for various reasons. This requires us to be very active, both in terms of diplomatic and political support, as well as strong cooperation in terms of material assistance to Ukraine,” Tusk emphasized.
As reported, Polish carriers began blockading the Yahodyn-Dorohusk, Krakovets-Korchova and Rava-Ruska-Krebenne checkpoints on November 6, and on November 22, the Oszukana Wieś organization joined the protest and blocked the Shehyni-Medyka checkpoint. Only the checkpoints for empty vehicles and those for light trucks remained outside the blockade.
On December 11 at 14:00 Kyiv time, the head of the Dorohuska Commune dissolved the protest of Polish carriers, and later refused to satisfy a new protest application. However, on December 15, a local Polish court overturned this decision, allowing the protesters to resume the blockade on December 18.
The organizers of the blockade, who demand the abolition of the “transport visa-free regime” for Ukraine introduced with the war, reported that, according to the official permission of the local authorities, it would last until January 3, 2024. However, some checkpoints already have permits to extend it until February, and a new blockade of the Dorohusk-Yagodyn checkpoint, according to Polish media, has been announced until March. The Ukrainian side had hoped for the border to be unblocked after the new government led by Donald Tusk came to power in Poland in mid-December, but so far, the blockade has been lifted only at the Shehyni-Medica checkpoint since December 25.
More than two thousand trucks are standing in line at three directions of the Ukrainian-Polish border due to the ongoing blockade organized by Polish carriers, the spokesman for the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine, Andriy Demchenko, said on a national telethon on Sunday morning.
“Three directions remain blocked: Rava-Ruska – Hrebenne, Krakovets – Korchova, Shehyni-Medyka… As of this morning, there are about 2,150 trucks in the queues in these three directions heading to Ukraine in Poland. Most of them are in front of Shehynia-Medica. There is traffic, but it is not as intense as it was before November 6 or November 23, when the blocking of Shehynia began,” the spokesman said.
At the same time, Demchenko emphasized that the Yahodyn-Dorohusk direction, which was unblocked on December 11, is experiencing heavy traffic of freight transport.
“Over the past day, about 1,500 trucks crossed this direction in both directions. Most of them were heading towards Ukraine. This is a very high rate of border crossing. Because the same number of trucks, even less, crossed the border before the blockade,” said the spokesman.
According to information received by Ukrainian border guards on the evening of December 14, representatives of Slovak carriers unblocked truck traffic entering Slovakia at the Vysne Nemecke checkpoint for an indefinite period of time, the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine reported on its Telegram channel.
“Since the end of the blockade, as of 09:00 on December 15, almost 60 trucks have been cleared to leave Ukraine through the Uzhhorod checkpoint, and another 1065 are in the electronic queue to leave Ukraine,” the statement said.
As reported, on December 11, Polish carriers ended the blockade in front of the Dorohusk-Yahodyn checkpoint.
The Union of Road Carriers of Slovakia (UNAS) blocked truck traffic through the only border checkpoint with Ukraine, Vysne Nemecke-Uzhhorod, from 15:00 on December 11.
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.
The Union of Slovak Carriers plans to block the movement of freight transport in front of the Vysne Nemecke checkpoint adjacent to the Ukrainian checkpoint Uzhhorod from 16:00 on December 1, 2023, the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine reports.
“Four trucks per hour will be allowed to leave Slovakia. At the same time, the transportation of humanitarian and military aid, live animals, fuel and refrigerated cargo will not be blocked,” the message on the Telegram channel reads.
Drivers are asked to take into account possible traffic complications.
