A significant queue of cars has formed at the Ukrainian-Hungarian border at the Luzhanka checkpoint (Zakarpattia region). According to eyewitnesses, motorists are forced to wait for many hours under the scorching sun, and traffic is moving extremely slowly — on average, three cars per hour.
People waiting in line complain about the unbearable conditions: lack of basic infrastructure, shortage of drinking water, and lengthy paperwork.
Many note that Ukrainian border guards are sluggish, which leads to a critical slowdown in traffic flow.
“We arrived at the border at 5:30 in the morning, we’ve been standing in the heat for eight hours, the line isn’t moving, this is mockery of citizens,” said a woman in line.
Eyewitnesses emphasize that this situation at the border is damaging Ukraine’s image and actually jeopardizing normal traffic with neighboring EU countries. “We’ve been standing here for over eight hours, the cars are barely moving, border guards are letting through a few cars an hour, and people aren’t being given any information,” one driver told local journalists.
Hundreds of cars periodically start honking en masse in protest against the inaction of border guards, but there is no response and no acceleration of the procedure for letting citizens through.
At the current pace of work at the checkpoint, people can spend a day or more at the border, which is unacceptable in the summer heat and with the high flow of volunteers, tourists, and transit passengers.
In this regard, an urgent response from the authorities is needed. The State Border Service and relevant ministries should immediately take measures to speed up the processing and ensure proper conditions for citizens. Otherwise, the Luzhanka checkpoint risks becoming a symbol of the inefficiency of the Ukrainian border control system.
On the Ukrainian-Hungarian section of the border in the Transcarpathian region, there is a significant increase in cars to enter Ukraine, said the head of the Transcarpathian regional state administration Viktor Mikita.
“In the case of Hungary, these queues stretched for several kilometers and sometimes reach 800 cars. The situation on the Slovak-Ukrainian border is somewhat better, but it also causes concern. People are in vehicles for several days, in the heat and without proper sanitary conditions,” Mikita wrote on Facebook.
He noted that queues are formed only for vehicles that are sent to Ukraine for customs clearance. General traffic, tourists and transit moves calmly, there are almost no queues.
“As for the queue that has arisen, there are a number of objective and subjective factors. Traffic has increased hundreds of times, cars for customs clearance go not only from Hungary, but also from the Baltic states, Poland and others. A significant part of the car does not have properly executed documents, which greatly complicates the pass and registration. There are other operational factors that require immediate optimization,” Mikita said.
