Polish protesters block all six border crossing points with Poland
Polish
protesters continue to block all traffic at border crossing
points, stopping all trucks from crossing, State Border Guard Service spokesman
Andriy Demchenko said on national TV on March 3.
"Polish farmers continue to block traffic for trucks,” said Demchenko.
“There are six locations: four in Lviv Oblast and two in Volyn Oblast. As of this morning, a total of more than 2,400 trucks are waiting in queues in all these places in Poland trying to get into Ukraine."
According to the SBGS spokesman, Ukrainian border guards are recording the largest queue of trucks in the direction of the Krakivets and Yahodyn checkpoints.
At the same time, Demchenko noted that the protesters are not blocking traffic for other types of vehicles.
"Fortunately, the protesters on the other side of the border do not block traffic for other categories of vehicles, including cars and buses used by ordinary citizens,” he added.
“So this sort of traffic is free in both directions."
Protests of Polish farmers at the border — what is known
On Feb. 20, protesters began to restrict traffic on the border with Ukraine. Truck traffic was blocked at the Medyka-Shehyni, Dolhobychuv-Uhrynów, Zosyn-Ustyluh, Korczowa-Krakovets, Hrebenne-Rava-Ruska, and Dorohusk-Yagodyn checkpoints.
The farmers put forward many demands, including two main ones: the abolition of duty-free trade with Ukraine and the complete closure of the Ukrainian-Polish border for trucks.
Poland asked Ukraine to cancel the electronic queue for three checkpoints.
Polish protesters also blocked the railroad near the Medyka-Shehyni checkpoint and poured grain out of railroad cars.
In response to the actions of the Poles, Ukrainian carriers began a protest at three checkpoints on the border with Poland on Feb. 20 - Rava-Ruska, Shehyni, and Krakovets.
The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry believes that the blocking of the border by the Poles has no justification, no matter what slogans it is accompanied by. Polish Minister of Development and Technology Krzysztof Hetman said he supports the farmers who are "protesting for a worthy cause."
There were reports of restrictions on passenger traffic. A scandal also erupted over a pro-Russian banner on one of the farm tractors at the border. It read "Putin will deal with Ukraine, Brussels and our government". The Polish police notified the farmer of suspicion of hate crime.
On Feb. 25, protesters poured grain out of eight railroad cars with Ukrainian agricultural products. This was the fourth incident in recent days. Poland stated that it could not collect all the Ukrainian grain that had been poured out of the railroad cars.
On Feb. 28, the Ukrainian and Polish sides held talks on the possibility of unblocking the border and taking into account the interests of farmers.
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