Polish truck drivers blocked roads to three border crossings with Ukraine earlier this month to protest government inaction over the loss of business to Ukraine. Ukrainian officials said last week that Kiev and Warsaw had again failed to reach an agreement to stop the protests.
Thousands of trucks are stuck at border crossings between Poland and Ukraine. Photo: AFP
“For more than 10 days, Ukrainian drivers have been blocked at the Polish border. Thousands of people are forced to live in difficult conditions with limited food, water and fuel,” Oleksandr Kubrakov, Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine, told X.
Serhiy Derkach, Ukraine's deputy minister of infrastructure, said there had been "many" cases of trucks carrying fuel and humanitarian aid getting stuck in queues.
“We have passed on information about these cases to our Polish colleagues... We are waiting for an answer,” he added.
On November 19, Mr. Derkach and a group of employees delivered food, water and medicine to drivers stranded at the Krakivets and Rava-Ruska intersection. He said another type of aid was being prepared for drivers stranded at the Dorohusk intersection.
“The situation there is no less serious - more than 1,200 trucks are waiting in line,” he said.
The Polish state news agency PAP reported over the weekend that the busiest Polish-Ukrainian crossing at Medyka could also be closed as early as this week. The Medyka crossing is across the border from Ukraine's Shehyni crossing.
According to the Ukrainian Ministry of Infrastructure, an average of 40,000-50,000 trucks cross the border with Poland every month through the eight existing border crossings. Most of the goods are transported by the Ukrainian transport fleet.
Ukrainian border guards say only a few vehicles are crossing the Polish border at blocked checkpoints every hour.
Trung Kien (according to Reuters)
Source
Comment (0)