The European Commission has strongly condemned the blockade on the Ukrainian border instigated by Polish truck drivers and farmers, and threatened legal action against the government in Warsaw.
“The truth is that I find the situation on the Polish border with Ukraine absolutely unacceptable,” Adina Valian, European Commissioner for Transport, said on Wednesday.
“While I support people’s right to protest, the entire European Union, let alone Ukraine, a country currently at war, cannot be taken hostage by closing our external borders. It’s that simple.”
Since November 6, Polish truck drivers and farmers have been blocking passage through various border crossings along the Polish-Ukrainian border. On Monday, the 24-hour restrictions were extended to a fourth crossing at Medica, worsening the crisis.
Only vehicles carrying humanitarian and military aid are allowed to enter.
As a result, thousands of Ukrainian truck drivers were stranded and forced to wait for entire days before reaching the other side, with queues stretching more than 30 kilometers into Polish territory. The harsh conditions on the ground, including sub-zero temperatures and lack of sanitation, have raised safety concerns.
Two Ukrainian drivers waiting to cross the border in their vehicles died, both of natural causes.
Polish demonstrators are demanding the re-imposition of pre-war rules on Ukrainian truck drivers, who have been exempted from the obligation to hold transport permits. The change was introduced last year as part of the EU’s “solidarity corridors”, which aim to help the war-torn country maintain its national economy and trade relations.
The demonstrators are also demanding that empty trucks returning from Ukraine to the European Union be excluded from the electronic queuing system set up by Kiev and the introduction of measures to prevent Belarusian and Russian transport companies from evading international sanctions.
According to the Polish Ministry of Infrastructure, the changes introduced by the Solidarity Corridors significantly upended the competition to the detriment of Polish drivers: in 2021, a year before Russia launched the war, Polish truck drivers had a market share of 38% versus 62%. than their Ukrainian competitors, who offer cheaper prices and are not bound by EU standards. At the end of October, the numbers had shifted to 8% and 92%, respectively.
But unlike the ban on Ukrainian duty-free grains earlier this year, these border restrictions were not drawn up or endorsed by Poland’s hard-right government, which lost power after elections in October.
“We are in constant contact with the transport industry. We are also talking with the government of Ukraine and the European Commission because they hold the key to eliminating the direct causes of this protest,” said Alvin Jajador, acting Polish Minister of Infrastructure. Wednesday.
However, Commissioner Valian seemed unconvinced by the proposal and publicly rebuked the Polish government for not doing its part in resolving the conflict.
Valian said: “There is no good faith in finding a solution. This is my assessment today.” “There is an almost complete absence of involvement of the Polish authorities.”
She added: “I say that because the Polish authorities are the ones who are supposed to enforce the law on those borders.”
The commissioner said there was a list of “technical measures” that could ease tensions and restore crossings but “they must be accepted by the Polish side.”
“We continue the dialogue, but we reserve our right to intervene as a commission even if there is a violation (action) against those who do not respect the rules and do not apply the law,” Valian noted.
The infringement procedure is one of the tools the executive has to ensure that European legislation is applied appropriately and uniformly across the bloc. The procedure consists of several stages and can lead to a lawsuit before the European Court of Justice, which can impose daily fines on the non-compliant Member State.
Ukraine is open to finding a compromise with Poland but says its drivers need to first be provided with food and emergency services. Ukraine has also opened the door for the evacuation of those stranded inside Poland.
advertisementMeanwhile, Slovak truck drivers have threatened to join the blockade from December 1 unless measures are taken to reduce competition from Ukrainian transport companies, according to the country’s Union of Slovak Transport Companies (UNAS).
