On Monday, April 22, Polish farmers ended a protest in front of the Dorohusk-Yagodyn border crossing point on the border with Ukraine.
This was reported by the State Border Guard Service, according to Espresso.Zakhid.
“According to the Border Guard of the Republic of Poland, today at 13:00 the protest of Polish farmers in front of the Dorohusk-Yagodyn checkpoint, which had been going on since February 9, ended. Registration and passage of trucks across the border in both directions is carried out as usual,” the statement said.
The State Border Guard Service urged carriers and drivers to take this information into account when planning international transportation.
Situation on the Ukrainian-Polish border as of the morning
Earlier, State Border Guard Service spokesman Andriy Demchenko told Ukrinform that as of the morning of April 22, Polish farmers blocked truck traffic at two checkpoints, letting several vehicles through per hour or restricting traffic altogether. It was about Yahodyn and Rava-Ruska.
“Polish protesters do not allow trucks to cross into Poland through Yagodyn. Also, as before, the protesters are letting a small number of trucks to Ukraine through this direction, especially when compared to the capacity of this direction. Over the past day, there were 75 of them. I would like to emphasize once again that this is the largest infrastructure area for crossing the border by trucks, which is capable of passing about 1,400 trucks in both directions,” said Demchenko.
The SBGS spokesperson also noted that at Rava-Ruska, Polish farmers partially started letting trucks enter Poland on the morning of April 21.
In total, as of Monday morning, about 800 trucks were queuing at these two blocked checkpoints in Poland. Cars and buses cross the border freely everywhere, and there are no restrictions on this category of transport on the other side of the border.
Queues at previously unblocked destinations
The queues also remain at the previously unblocked directions of the Krakivets and Shehyni checkpoints. 1000 and 700 trucks, respectively. However, heavy traffic both leaving and entering Ukraine occurs in accordance with the capacity of each checkpoint.
What is known about the protests of Poles on the border with Ukraine
On February 7, Polish farmers sent an official notice to resume strikes on the border with Ukraine. The blocking of the Dorohusk-Yahodyn checkpoint began on February 9. The protest was approved by the local authorities until March 9.
Earlier, the Polish farmers’ union Solidarity announced a general strike across the country on February 9. At the time, it was said that it would begin with the blockade of all checkpoints on the border with Ukraine, as well as the blocking of roads and highways in individual voivodeships.
The reason for the renewed protests is simple: according to one of the organizers, Roman Kondruv, it is because the government has done nothing to address the problems of technical grain from Ukraine since the previous protests.
On February 12, at the Ukrainian-Polish border, near the Yagodyn-Dorohusk checkpoint, Poles poured grain from Ukrainian trucks onto the ground.
On February 20, they promised to block all border crossings with Ukraine for a month. Ukrainian carriers held their own peaceful protest in response to the actions of Polish farmers. The State Border Guard Service of Ukraine stated that it had not received information from the Polish side regarding the complete blocking of the border. In response to the Polish blockade, Ukrainian carriers are preparing a campaign at three checkpoints.
On February 20, Polish farmers on the border with Ukraine blocked the railroad and poured grain out of a freight car. Later it turned out that it was headed for Germany.
In the evening of February 20, Polish protesters eased traffic restrictions near the border with Ukraine at two checkpoints, including Hrebenne-Rava Ruska, and began letting cars through.
Poland’s Consul General in Lviv condemned the border blockade and apologized to Ukraine, while Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal later said that Ukraine and Poland were “ready for reasonable compromises” on negotiations on the situation at the border.
Polish protesters have temporarily stopped blocking the Ustyluh-Zosyn checkpoint after blocking it the day before.
On February 25, Prime Minister of Ukraine Denys Shmyhal said that the first offenders on the Ukrainian-Polish border had already been brought to justice by Poland, and that they face imprisonment.
In total, Ukraine lost about UAH 8 billion in customs payments, and businesses lost more than EUR 1.5 billion due to the blocking of the border by Polish protesters.
