Poland truckers blockading Ukraine border sign temporary agreement with government to halt protest News
Henryk Borawski, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Poland truckers blockading Ukraine border sign temporary agreement with government to halt protest

The Polish Ministry of Infrastructure announced Tuesday that protests along the Polish and Ukrainian borders carried out by Polish truckers have come to a temporary halt until March 1 due to an agreement facilitated by Minister of Infrastructure Dariusz Klimcza. Protests began November 6, 2023, due to Polish truckers’ insistence that the European Union reinstate the need for Ukrainian companies to have permits before operating. Other demands include EU financial support for Polish haulage companies and managing the rise of EU-registered Ukrainian truckers.

Edyta Ozygała, a protest leader in Dorohusk, said that a major reason why Polish truckers were protesting was because the waive of permits for Ukrainian drivers , which occurred after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, caused an insurmountable toll on their earnings and created long lines at entry points between the Ukrainian-Polish border. The suspension of permits was to last until July 2024. Minister for Communities and Territories Development and Infrastructure of Ukraine Oleksandr Kubrakov took to X to explain the sharp rise in Ukrainian hauliers to Poland due to humanitarian aid and fuel exports. He was also critical of the protestors assumption that the agreement suspending Ukrainian permits had impacted Polish truckers negatively.

Serhiy Derkach, Deputy Minister of Communities, Territories and Infrastructure Development of Ukraine, was also eager to end the protest due to “critical economic losses” suffered by both countries as a result. After months of back and forth and accusations of being uncompromising on both sides, a tentative agreement has been reached. Rafal Mekler, a lead organizer of the Polish protests, posted the agreement on social media, which showed a guarantee of talks with the European Commission for securing financial support for Polish haulers. Another protest organizer, Tomasz Buczek, expressed his concern over whether the agreement would withstand the pressure or address all of their concerns, but confirmed his willingness to not resume protests at the moment.

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