Polish truckers resumed their blockade of the largest freight border crossing with Ukraine on Monday (December 18) after a court order allowed the truckers to return to the Dorohosk checkpoint.
Truck drivers have been blocking the border for more than a month, demanding the restoration of EU entry permits for their Ukrainian competitors.
The European Union suspended the permit system after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, but Polish road hauliers say the move has hit their profits.
Last week, local authorities in Dorohosk withdrew their permission for protests at the border crossing, but a court later overturned the decision.
Police confirmed on Monday that truck drivers had once again obstructed the movement of goods.
“There are currently about 25 people at the protest site. A bus and a trailer are parked there,” local police spokeswoman Ewa Czyz told AFP.
Police said about 1,800 trucks were lined up at the Dorohosk crossing when the protest resumed, with the line stretching for about 46 kilometres.
The Ukrainian Border Guard Service separately confirmed the long queues, and said Polish protesters planned to allow only one truck through the blockade per hour.
“At the same time, they say that vehicles carrying security and humanitarian cargo, as well as those transporting animals, perishable food, etc., will be allowed to pass,” she added.
Ukraine relies heavily on land transport with EU member Poland for its exports and imports, especially since the Russian invasion nearly two years ago.
Pro-EU Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk last week promised to resolve the dispute and accused the previous government of abandoning the protesting truck drivers.
But negotiations between the new government in Warsaw and the protesting Polish truck drivers have failed to reach a solution.
