Polish truckers resume blockade of key Ukraine checkpoint

Polish hauliers on Monday (18 December) resumed their blockade of the largest freight border crossing with Ukraine following a court order that allowed the truckers to go back to the Dorohusk checkpoint.

The truckers have been blocking the border for over a month to demand the reintroduction of permits to enter the European Union for their Ukrainian competitors.

The bloc had waived the permits system after Russia invaded Ukraine, but the Polish road carriers say the move took a toll on their earnings.

Last week the local authorities in Dorohusk withdrew permission for protests at the border crossing, but the decision was later overturned by the court.

On Monday, the police confirmed that the truckers were once again blocking cargo traffic.

“Currently, there are around 25 people at the protest site. One bus and a caravan are parked there,” a spokeswoman for the local police, Ewa Czyz, told AFP.

Around 1,800 trucks were queued up at the Dorohusk crossing when the protest restarted, with the line stretching for nearly 46 kilometres, the police said.

Ukraine’s border guard service separately confirmed the queues and said Polish protesters planned to let just one truck through the blockade per hour.

“At the same time, they say vehicles carrying security and humanitarian cargo, as well as those transporting animals, perishable food etc. will be allowed to pass,” it said.

Ukraine relies heavily on road transport with EU member Poland for its exports and imports, particularly since the Russian invasion nearly two years ago.

Poland’s pro-EU prime minister, Donald Tusk, promised last week to resolve the conflict and accused the previous government of having abandoned the protesting truckers.

But the negotiations between the new government in Warsaw and the protesting Polish truckers have failed to yield a solution.

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