A protest by Polish truck drivers is causing long delays at border crossings along the Polish-Ukrainian border, officials said on November 9 with few signs that the truckers’ complaints are being addressed.
Polish transport companies have blocked three border crossings with Ukraine since November 6, demanding the reintroduction of entry permits for Ukrainian truckers heading for EU countries. The European Union waived the permits after Russia invaded Ukraine last year.
"Currently, more than 20,000 vehicles are blocked on both sides," said Ukrainian Infrastructure Minister Oleksandr Kubrakov, adding that he had discussed the issue with his Polish counterpart.
"Ukraine respects the right to protest and is ready for a constructive dialogue to resolve the situation," said Kubrakov.
The three blocked checkpoints are at Hrebenne-Rava-Ruska, Korchova-Krakowiec, and Dorogusk-Yagodin.
In addition, there is a line of trucks stretching about 30 kilometers at the only checkpoint on the Polish-Ukrainian border that the protesters have not blocked.
A spokesperson for the Polish Border Guard told RFE/RL that as of 3 p.m. local time at the Medyka-Shegyni checkpoint, 1,020 trucks had gathered on the Ukrainian side, and the approximate waiting time was 55 hours.
There are 450 trucks at the Hrebenne-Rava-Ruska checkpoint, where the approximate waiting time for crossing there is 155 hours, the Polish Border Guard said.
Ukrainian driver Ihor Klak, who has already spent two days in line at the Hrebenne-Rava-Ruska checkpoint, said Polish carriers have not kept their promise to allow one vehicle through per hour.
"For the last five hours, I have not moved even a meter. So how much is one car per hour?” said Klak, who considers the demands of Polish carriers to be illegal.
Klak said he has been working as a driver for more than 30 year and there has always been a permit quota, but permits have been issued disproportionately. There was supposed to be 1,000 permits given to Polish drivers and 1,000 given to Ukrainians. But he said the Poles gave out only 600.
Making matters worse, a lot of transport workers in Russia, Kazakhstan, and Uzbekistan have gone east because of the war, which means that transport in that direction has increased, and the number of permits offered would not be enough to handle the increase, he said.
“Poles say that we took away their jobs? Seriously? And why won't they say that they took jobs from the whole of Europe? Today, they occupy the first place in transport in the whole of Europe. They don't see that they are ‘beating down’ prices all over Europe?” Klak asked.
One of the organizers of the protest, Tomasz Borkovskii, told RFE/RL that the conditions have not changed. One vehicle is allowed through per hour at the three checkpoints they are blocking.
"So far there are no changes. We expect that a video conference of the vice ministers of infrastructure of Ukraine and Poland will take place today. I hope that they will reach some constructive conclusions for us," added Borkovskii.
Kubrakov said on November 6 that his ministry was cooperating with the European Commission and the government of Poland to resolve the situation.
“Our official position is that blocking the border harms the interests and economies of both countries,” he said.