Romanian farmers block lorries at checkpoint on Ukrainian border

Lorries on the Romanian-Ukrainian border. Photo: Bloomberg via Getty Images
Lorries on the Romanian-Ukrainian border. Photo: Bloomberg via Getty Images

Farmers in Romania have blocked the movement of lorries through the Siret checkpoint, located opposite the Ukrainian checkpoint in Porubne.

Source: European Pravda with reference to Ukraine's State Border Service

Details: Ukrainian border guards stated that the reasons for the farmers' blockade and its estimated duration are unknown, and there may be traffic problems in both directions.

"Currently, the queue of vehicles waiting to enter Ukraine is not significant. [A total of] 825 vehicles are registered in the E-queue to leave Ukraine," the department noted.

Meanwhile, cars, buses and pedestrians are crossing the border as usual.

Romania became one of the key countries for the transit of Ukrainian products after the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine and the blockade of sea routes.

Its role increased after several Eastern European countries introduced embargoes on imports of Ukrainian agricultural products and several checkpoints on the Poland-Ukraine border were blocked.

Background:

  • Ukraine’s monthly exports through Romania have increased from 2 to 3 million tonnes. Ukraine and Romania are currently working to increase the capacity of border crossings to 4 million tonnes.

  • On 6 January, Czesław Siekierski, Poland’s Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, and representatives of the Oszukana Wieś (Deceived Village) movement signed an agreement to end the blocking of the border crossing point with Ukraine at Medyka. This checkpoint is now unblocked.

  • At the end of December, it was reported that the governments of Ukraine and Poland had agreed on an action plan to unblock the border, but it has yet to be completely unblocked.

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