Polish protesters block trucks with humanitarian aid along with other Ukrainian freight vehicles
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Polish protesters do not distinguish trucks carrying humanitarian aid or other important cargo and block their passage along with other Ukrainian freight vehicles, State Border Guard Service spokesman Andriy Demchenko said on national television on Feb. 16.
"I also have doubts that the participants of this blockade will let through the necessary amount of humanitarian aid that goes to Ukraine in all these directions, because of course the traffic is restricted, and the number of border crossings is very small,” he said.
“Therefore, if there is a queue on the territory of Poland, most likely, they do not even distinguish trucks with humanitarian aid or other important cargo going to Ukraine."
Polish farmers resumed protests at the Shehyni-Medyka checkpoint and blocked two other border crossings with Ukraine at Zosyn-Ustyluh and Dołhobyczów-Uhryniv around 10:10 am EET, the State Border Guard Service reported on Telegram on Feb. 12.
Read also: Poland to finally release ‘shocking information’ on Ukrainian grain imports
Polish carriers began protests on the border with Ukraine on Nov. 6, blocking three checkpoints for freight traffic: Korczowa-Krakivets, Hrebenne-Rava-Ruska, and Dorohusk-Yahodyn.
On Nov. 22, the blockade of the Yahodyn-Dorohusk checkpoint on the Ukrainian-Polish border was extended until Feb. 1, 2024.
Polish farmers joined the carriers blocking the Polish-Ukrainian border on Dec. 20.
The European Union is preparing a bill that extends duty-free trade with Ukraine until June 2025, rejecting Poland’s proposal to restore tariffs on some “sensitive products”.
Read also: Polish minister apologizes for harassment of Ukrainian grain shipments
Instead, Poland is demanding that a “safeguard clause” be introduced for Ukrainian products, which provides for the possibility of applying regional safeguard measures if a market problem affects not the entire EU but one member state or region.
Polish truckers had previously reached an agreement with the government to suspend their protests on Jan. 17, according to remarks made by protest leader Tomasz Borkowski on Jan. 16. Polish carriers unblocked the last checkpoint on the border with Ukraine Yahodyn-Dorohusk on the same day. The blockade was suspended until March 1.
However, on Feb. 2, Polish farmers said that they had “lost their patience” and would launch a nationwide strike on Feb. 9, blocking the border with Ukraine.
Negotiations between Kyiv and Warsaw on regulating the imports of Ukrainian agricultural products are in final stages, Poland’s Agriculture Minister Czeslaw Sekerski said during a meeting with Polish farmers who are blockading the Ukrainian border on Feb. 15.
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