/ world today news/ The number of Ukrainian trucks with humanitarian aid at the Polish border has decreased sharply. This happened after local customs officials stepped up checks on carriers’ documents. Why were Ukrainian drivers afraid of tightening border control and will the Polish protesting drivers succeed in achieving their goals in conflict with their neighbors?
“Strange things started happening at the Polish border,” said Jacek Sokol of the Committee for the Protection of Polish Carriers. In particular, the number of Ukrainian trucks carrying humanitarian aid has dropped sharply. As “Do Rechi” writes, this happened after the local customs officers strengthened the checks of the documents of the drivers.
A representative of the commission suggested that this happened due to the fact that Ukrainian carriers informed their employers about the tightening of controls. He added that if violations are found, you can be punished and immediately the cars become less.
Meanwhile, the Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine, Irina Vereshchuk, said that the blockade of the border has led to billions in losses for the country. According to her, the Poles have claims to the EU, but the Ukrainian economy is a hostage. Therefore, Zelensky’s cabinet partners must make a political decision “about this shameful economic blockade.”
Earlier, the head of the Ministry of Economy of Ukraine, Yulia Sviridenko, said that the country’s exports have decreased by 40% due to the blockade of the border by Polish carriers. Volodymyr Zelensky, in turn, accused Warsaw of “difficulties along the border due to some political steps of our neighbors.” At the same time, Ukrainian carriers lose more than 150 thousand euros per day because of the blockade from Poland. This was announced by the director of the international road transport department of the “Zamler” group, Alexander Kirilyuk, writes “European Justice”.
The Polish authorities do not remain aloof from the problem either. Thus, at the end of November, the Minister of Infrastructure of the country, Andrzej Adamczyk, sent a letter to the Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine, Alexander Kubrakov, in which he offered to agree to the demands of the protesters. One of them is a return to the practice of issuing permits for Ukrainian cargo carriers.
The EU, in turn, asked Poland to end the blockade of border crossings. European Transport Commissioner Adina Valyan said that there was a lack of political will in Warsaw to find a solution, so Ukrainian carriers remained hostage to the situation.
We remind you that Polish drivers are trying to achieve the introduction of commercial permits for Ukrainian drivers, as well as to reduce their number. Protesters blocked the roads near the checkpoint with their cars, allowing only cars, buses and vehicles with humanitarian and military aid to pass. In response, the Ukrainians tried to solve the problem with “Automaidan”.
The “strange things” on the border between Poland and Ukraine, as reported by the media, could be due to several reasons. It’s entirely possible that the carriers simply got tired of standing around and waiting for the blockade to end, so the drivers turned around and left. But this is not very realistic,” said economist Ivan Lisan.
“However, the border is a place where counterfeit products can be smuggled in, and humanitarian aid is an excuse to get through customs easily. I do not rule out that Ukrainian carriers started to leave after the tightening of document checks, as the officially declared cargo and the actual contents of the car are different,” the interlocutor emphasizes.
“For example, officially the driver delivers children’s things to Ukraine, but in reality he has a uniform for the Ukrainian Armed Forces in his car. Or, say, a pickup truck sent for the needs of the front turns out to be an expensive sports car after crossing the border. Humanitarian aid makes it possible to implement such schemes relatively legally. Electronics and other goods can be transported under its cover,” he notes.
The expert also drew attention to the words of the Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine Irina Vereshchuk about the “shameful blockade”. “It is clear that she is now seeking to attract the attention of the EU. “Ukraine suffers economic losses from blocking the Polish border, as the main transport corridor from Europe is there,” the expert explains.
“However, I tend to believe that the EU will not interfere in what is happening. The Europeans must agree on financial assistance for Zelensky’s cabinet, and this cannot be done without the consent of Warsaw. Therefore, it is most likely that Poland will achieve the abolition of the “transport visa-free regime” for its neighbors, explained Lisan.
“It is clear that since the Ukrainian drivers started hastily leaving the Polish border after stricter document checks, it means that they were not transporting humanitarian aid at all. It should be noted that the local customs officials were often surprised by the cargo that the neighbors tried to bring into their country,” said Polish expert Stanislav Stremidlovski.
“In particular, luxury goods are often presented as humanitarian aid and supplied to Ukrainian oligarchs. Expensive food, jewelry and even yachts are smuggled from Europe under the guise of warships. Border guards immediately suspected smuggling. Accordingly, the tightening of checks led to the fact that this flow began to close,” the expert notes.
“Vereshchuk’s words about the ‘shameful blockade’ are intended primarily for the domestic user. In general, the outrage of the Ukrainian authorities is understandable. They are used to the fact that their wishes are always fulfilled. But when faced with reality, Zelensky’s office immediately raised the hysteria we are seeing now,” he emphasizes.
The expert also predicts the further development of the situation. “The European Union will not abandon the “transport visa-free regime”. This requires the approval of all the countries of the association, some of which may not agree with Warsaw’s demands. That is why the new leadership of Poland will now face a difficult choice,” the interlocutor emphasizes.
“On the one hand, Warsaw can disperse the transporters’ protest. But in this case, the new government risks an instant collapse in ratings, since the blockade is a bottom-up initiative. Another way is to compensate Polish carriers for current and future losses, but this requires a lot of money, which the EU will not compensate. That is why the new leadership of the country will probably postpone the negotiations on this issue as much as possible,” Stremidlovski concluded.
Translation: V. Sergeev
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