Polish hauliers on Friday said they expected to resume a month-long blockade at the largest freight crossing point with Ukraine, as their Slovak counterparts announced the end of their protest.
Truckers from both countries are demanding the reintroduction of permits to enter the European Union for their Ukrainian competitors, which the 27-nation bloc had waived after Russia invaded Ukraine.
On Monday, local authorities in Dorohusk on the Poland-Ukraine border said they were withdrawing permission for protests at the checkpoint there -- one of four border crossings blocked since November by Polish truckers.
On Friday, the regional court in Lublin said the protest could go ahead after all, after the hauliers appealed against the Dorohusk authorities' decision.
"The court revoked the mayor's decision. We'll wait 24 hours and if the mayor doesn't appeal against the verdict, we'll return to the border on December 18," said Rafal Mekler, one of the protest leaders.
"We are in touch with the new Polish government" to try to resolve the dispute, he told AFP.
Ukraine relies heavily on road transport with EU member Poland for its exports and imports, particularly since the Russian invasion nearly two years ago.
Kyiv said earlier that the fallout from the border protest had been "catastrophic" and that Ukrainian drivers stuck at crossings were facing "dire" conditions.
Poland's new prime minister, Donald Tusk, on Tuesday promised to resolve the conflict and accused the previous government of having abandoned the protesting truckers.
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Slovakia's lorry drivers' union UNAS, for its part, said on Friday its members had ended their blockade, which had begun just three days earlier.
"We have ended our protest following a request from the police," UNAS vice chairman Rastislav Curma told AFP.
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Comments (2)
Part 2
And most importantly...IF...IF...this was truly about Polish and Slovak truck drivers making money...then how is it that Polish and Slovak truck drivers are making money while their trucks are sitting idle blocking the borders with Ukraine?
They are being paid by the gremlin in the kremlin.
Part 1
Poland MUST be forced to compensate the Western EU member truck drivers when Polish truck drivers did the same in 2017...except Poland in 2017 and now did not and does not have a compelling reason...my nation Ukraine is in the middle of a war, our survival as a people and nation depend on this so an exception must be made.
Poland and Slovakia truck drivers and their governments should be ashamed of themselves by elevating the desire for a bigger paycheck instead of helping a nation and people survive.
This is not a matter of competition either but protectionism.
It would be interesting if someone would investigate how many of these "Polish" and "Slovak" trucking companies are genuine and not belarusian and russian truck companies, some of whom have moved their operations to Poland and Slovakia impersonating Polish and Slovak owned trucking companies so as to use EU laws against the EU membership and Ukraine. Air, sea, and now road access by Ukraine is denied...next is rail.
And then there is pro russia pro communist piece of filth Janusz Korwin-Mikke, who hates just about everyone and everything and is also leading these "Polish truck driver protests.`` In his youth he was "anti communist" and detained, jailed, then expelled from university BUT was mysteriously reinstated and allowed by the communists to finish his studies...#Collaborator