Polish farmers end blockade of Ukraine border crossing

Author: Editors Desk Source: The Guardian

December 24, 2023 at 09:56

Trucks lining up to cross the Polish-Ukrainian border at the Dorohusk-Jagodzin crossing, in Okopy, Poland earlier this month. Photograph: Kuba Stężycki/Reuters

Ukraine says movement of lorries restored after suspension of protest, but truckers’ blockades of three other crossings continue

Polish farmers have ended their blockade of one of the border crossings between Ukraine and Poland and the movement of lorries has been fully restored, the Ukrainian border service has said.

“Truck traffic has been restored: Polish farmers have ended the blockade in front of the Medyka-Shehyni crossing,” the service said on the Telegram messaging app on Sunday.

The service quoted the Polish border guard as saying that the protest action in front of the crossing ended at 9.30am Kyiv time (0730 GMT) on Sunday.

“Registration and crossing of trucks entering Ukraine is carried out as usual,” it added.

Polish farmers said on Saturday that they would suspend a protest at the crossing with Ukraine from Sunday but truckers would continue blockades at three other crossings over Christmas.

Drivers have been blocking several crossings with Ukraine since 6 November, demanding that the European Union reinstate a system under which Ukrainian companies need permits to operate in the bloc, and the same for European truckers seeking to enter Ukraine.

They were later joined by farmers who demanded government subsidies for corn and no increases in taxes.

Ukraine’s deputy prime minister, Oleksandr Kubrakov, said on Thursday that Kyiv hoped to reach an agreement with the new Polish government to end truck blockades at the border crossings.

Ukrainian transport analysts had said that about 3,900 trucks were on the Polish side waiting for permission to enter Ukraine.

Poland’s newly appointed prime minister, Donald Tusk, said last week that the new government would try to put a quick end to the truck drivers’ protest.

Russian bombardment killed four people and injured nine over 24 hours in the frontline southern Ukrainian city of Kherson, the region’s governor said on Sunday.

Russian forces fired 71 shells at Kherson from Saturday to Sunday morning, hitting the city centre, residential areas, medical and educational institutions and “critical infrastructure facilities”, Oleksandr Prokudin wrote on Telegram.

“As a result of Russian aggression, four people died and nine others were wounded, including one child.”