Polish hauliers protest: Polish government fails to reach agreement with protesters

European Pravda, Ukrainska Pravda — Thursday, 9 November 2023, 21:39

Banner on the truck reads "Polish hauliers strike". Photo: Getty Images

The meeting between representatives of the Polish government and Polish hauliers blocking the Polish-Ukrainian border for transport vehicles ended without agreement after three hours of negotiations.

Source: European Pravda with reference to RMF24

Details: Three-hour talks between the protesting carriers and representatives of the Polish government ended without agreement. The hauliers are determined to continue blocking the movement of goods across the border with Ukraine.

A representative for the hauliers said they did not hear any proposals that met their demands, while another expressed hope that the meeting would be an impetus for these demands to be met.

Polish State Secretary Rafał Weber said that the Polish government could not, at the request of the protesters, reintroduce the requirement of permits for Ukrainian hauliers because it was a Brussels-level decision. He added that Warsaw was trying to get other countries to lobby on the issue alongside it.

Weber also said that he would talk to Kyiv about using empty lanes at border crossings to process trucks returning to Poland and about an electronic queue system.

Background:

On 9 November, Oleksandr Kubrakov, Deputy Prime Minister for Restoration of Ukraine and Minister for Communities, Territories and Infrastructure Development, discussed the blocking of the Polish-Ukrainian border by Polish protesters with his Polish counterpart, Infrastructure Minister Andrzej Adamczyk. More than 20,000 vehicles are currently stuck at the Ukrainian-Polish border as a result of the strike by Polish hauliers.
On 6 November, dozens of Polish hauliers began blocking three border crossings with Ukraine in Hrebenne, Dorohusk and Korczowa. The key demand of Polish hauliers is to bring back the system of issuing permits for Ukrainian hauliers to work in the EU.
After the start of the full-scale war with Russia, the European Union took unprecedented steps to support the Ukrainian economy and cancelled the need for Ukrainians to obtain the above-mentioned permits for a year. And this summer, the EU extended this norm until June 2024.
Now, Polish hauliers demand to cancel this privilege in principle and return to the old permit system. Another requirement is the tightening of transportation rules under the ECMT, a certificate of the European Conference of Ministers of Transport.
Dozens of Polish protesters blocked three border crossings with Ukraine in Hrebenne, Dorohusk and Korczowa on 6 November. Their key demand is to bring back the system of issuing permits for Ukrainian hauliers to work in the EU.

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