Romanian Farmers Block Another Border Crossing With Ukraine

Romanian farmers protest in front of the European Commission headquarters in Bucharest in April 2023.

Dozens of Romanian farmers on January 18 blocked a northwestern border crossing with Ukraine with their tractors and called for a stop to cheap grain imports from its neighbor. The farmers blocking the Halmeu-Dyakove crossing displayed banners reading "Stop grain from Ukraine." Traffic leaving Ukraine has been "temporarily suspended to prevent passenger cars from being blocked," the Ukrainian Customs Service said. On January 17, another northwestern Romanian crossing, Urziceni, was blocked for several hours while traffic through the northeastern crossing of Siret continues to be slowed by Romanian farmers and truckers.