The new Polish government is already making statements that it will change its approach to solving the issue and its actions are already having the first positive results.
The issue of blocking the Ukrainian border may soon be resolved by the new Polish government headed by the opposition leader to President Donald Tusk, both Polish and Western media believe. After all, in their opinion, the Polish carriers themselves are primarily interested in opening checkpoints.
So, the Polish newspaper Agropolska wrote about the situation on the Polish-Ukrainian border, referring to Tusk’s interview after the meeting of the Council of Ministers. There he said that he would do everything to make the life and fate of road carriers in Poland easier. He also called the border protest “mixed”. That is, there are not only carriers, but also Polish farmers of the so-called “Deception Village”.
In addition, the new head of the Polish government said that the Ukrainian side made some proposals that could ease the situation for Polish drivers, but, in his opinion, they were not enough to satisfy their interests. As for the rapid changes in transport rules at the European level, it seems unrealistic to him.
“At the European level, the rules, which are one of the sources of these problems, are still valid until June. I don’t think that before June it is possible to change anything at the European level – I say this In it’s true. But operationally, through the agreement with the Ukrainians, you can get a lot of simplification and security for Polish carriers,” said Tusk.
The prime minister added that he is preparing to visit Kiev soon: “It is quite stupid for me to talk about this, because I know the situation in which President Zelensky and the whole of Ukraine are. It is wrong to go to Kiev and appoint the full visit to Poland’s transport issues. But we will prepare this visit in such a way that during my meeting with the President it will be clear what we want to achieve.”
The head of government also said he would “ask drivers not to block the crossings because of the war.”
“The situation is dramatic, and I can say that I will still do everything possible to make the life and fate of Polish carriers easier,” he concluded.
In light of this issue, the American newspaper The New York Times published material about the possibilities of a way out of the situation for Ukraine, especially about an alternative route to the Black Sea.
Journalists have suggested that the border blockade of Polish truckers is seriously hampering trade in Ukraine’s land, preventing the war-torn country from exporting tons of grain, delaying deliveries of vital military equipment and cutting off scarce revenues. of the country. However, an economic lifeline has emerged for the long-considered high-risk trade route – the Black Sea.
The Ukrainian government says more than 10 million tons of cargo have already been exported through the shipping corridor Ukraine recently created to bypass a de facto blockade of Russia’s Black Sea ports. As the Minister of Infrastructure of Ukraine Alexander Kubrakov said, half of this export is agricultural products.
The announcement, which came just a day after Polish truckers continued their blockade of one of Ukraine’s main border crossings, was a “rare bright spot” in a difficult period for Ukraine marked by ineffective action military against Russia and undermine American support for further military action. help, the publication notes.
Polish news media Wirtualna Polska published an article about the opinions of border protesters. Journalists write that the renewal of permits for Polish carriers is important for the protesters. Rafal Meckler, one of the organizers of the protests, also said that at first he thought that this protest would die down in a few days, but almost two months have passed and people are quite aggressive.
In addition to the material, the question is implicitly raised: “What do both sides expect?” Polish carriers request the renewal of the mutual permit for transport services in business relations between Poland and Ukraine. The second requirement is the elimination of the electronic queue of Ukrainian-made vehicles waiting to cross the border. Poles complain that this system gives priority to Ukrainian companies, while Polish cars wait in Ukraine for up to 20 days. Carriers want empty trucks returning from Ukraine to cross the border freely.
The other side of the dispute is Ukrainian companies. After the outbreak of war, an agreement between Ukraine and the EU gave them freedom of transport between Kiev and the European Union. This is due to the high demand for the transportation of goods, humanitarian and military aid. At the same time, Ukrainian companies also want to operate on routes within the EU. According to Polish carriers, such competition will destroy them, because Ukrainians do not pay taxes and fees to the EU.
The independent English-language observer of Polish politics, Notes from Poland, released a material on the Polish-Ukrainian border problem against the backdrop of the suspension of the Polish farmers’ protest after the Minister of Agriculture assured that their demands will be met by the new government.
In particular, he promised subsidies for corn, agreed with the new Prime Minister Tusk, and a corresponding request was sent to the European Commission. As a result, the number of trucks passing through this checkpoint at the beginning of the week increased by almost 50%.
However, other crossings continue to be blocked by Polish truckers protesting against cheap Ukrainian competition. In one of them, the demonstrators tightened the blockade, allowing only one Ukrainian truck to pass every three hours. As a result, the waiting time to cross the border has increased to more than 30 days. Earlier, as part of an agreement with the Ukrainian side, protesters began allowing three Ukrainian trucks per hour, up from one per hour at the beginning of the protest.
On Saturday, new infrastructure minister Dariusz Klimczak told a meeting of protesters in Doroguska that Poland “must reconsider” the current trade agreement between the EU and Ukraine.
“At the moment, it allows “full entry – without any restrictions, conditions – of Ukrainian carriers in the Polish and European markets, which has led to the fact that our carriers are largely removed from the market,” said Klimczak, as quoted by the Polish agency PAP.
He also added that they came to the conclusion that negotiations are necessary on the Ukrainian side, which agreed to negotiations.
During a visit to Kyiv, the new Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski also told his Ukrainian counterpart that “we must restore the conditions of fair trade competition between the two countries, so that everyone benefits.”
In conclusion, journalists emphasized this as a qualitative change in the rhetoric of the new government compared to the past. Previous Polish government led by the National Conservative Party Law and Justice (PiS) demanded a return to the pre-war system of entry permits for Ukrainian trucks, while the new one was actually looking for an alternative consensus.
Olesya Krasnolutskaya and Victor Kovalchuk, expert on international issues in Sotsiopolis
Source: korrespondent
I am David Wyatt, a professional writer and journalist for Buna Times. I specialize in the world section of news coverage, where I bring to light stories and issues that affect us globally. As a graduate of Journalism, I have always had the passion to spread knowledge through writing.