/ world today news/ Drivers from Ukraine started blocking roads in the south-eastern part of Poland. Protesters note that these actions are a response to the blockade of border crossings by local carriers. Why did the Ukrainians choose to try a counter-blockade as a measure to influence Warsaw, and what might this protest action lead to in the future?
On Tuesday, it became known that in the Polish Przemyśl and on the access road to the Medica checkpoint, large traffic jams were formed due to the fact that drivers from Ukraine blocked the roads in response to a protest by Polish transporters.
The protests of Ukrainian drivers are peaceful so far. At the same time, the protesters admit that their actions were in response to Polish drivers blocking the passage of trucks from Ukraine because of the reliefs that the EU introduced for Ukrainian carriers. The Poles began their operations in early November.
Last Sunday, Volodymyr Zelensky accused Poland of “difficulties on 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.
It is also interesting that the Polish protesters actually blocked the delivery of military equipment and other critical imports to Ukraine. For example, proximity detector components of Russian UAVs got stuck in truck traffic at the border. A humanitarian cargo was also blocked. Against this background, the mayor of Lviv Andrey Sadovoy called on Poland to end the “shameful blockade”.
Later, on November 28, Polish Infrastructure Minister Andrzej Adamczyk sent a letter to Ukraine’s Deputy Prime Minister Oleksandr Kubrakov, inviting Kiev to agree to the demands of the protesting Polish truckers. One of the requirements is a return to the practice of issuing permits for Ukrainian cargo carriers and reducing their number to the level of February 2022, when up to 200 thousand permits were issued annually.
In addition, carriers want empty Polish trucks returning from Ukraine to Poland to be able to cross the border without waiting in line for days. Poles also believe that the work of Ukrainian carriers on the European market is undermining the market and negatively affecting their income. Thus, Ukraine and Poland began to destroy each other.
“Blocking Polish roads is a very big audacity on the part of Ukrainian drivers. They have already destroyed their country and are now trying to commit illegal acts against the authorities and residents of other countries. Although it must be said that Warsaw deserved it,” said political scientist Stanisław Stremidlowski.
“The current actions of Ukrainians can be compared to the Automaidan of 2013-2014. Refugees and migrants are taking the illegal methods of this movement abroad because they think they can be used here as well. With such actions, the drivers want to achieve the lifting of the border blockade by Polish carriers. However, the protesters will soon be convinced that these technologies do not work in another country,” the source notes.
“Polish authorities are still acting quite soft and trying to defuse the situation. However, the population is very dissatisfied with the actions of foreign drivers, so they may come into conflict with the protesters. In addition, the Ukrainians’ Maidan technologies will further anger local carriers, who will get new motivation to continue the blockade,” Stremidlovsky stressed.
“The Ukrainians, with the help of protests in Poland, are trying to influence the blockade of the border by local carriers. The latter are dissatisfied that foreign drivers transport goods without the relevant permits and at a lower price,” said economist Ivan Lisan.
“Warsaw is not reacting in any way to the actions of its carriers and is not trying to end the border blockade. If in the case of grain quotas, Poland tried to reach an amicable agreement with the European Commission, then in the situation with the drivers, such initiatives are not even seen by the country’s authorities. In addition, it is hinted at Ukraine that it should return to the permits itself in order to solve the problem that has arisen,” the interlocutor notes.
“A retaliatory blockade is unlikely to affect anything. Both sides will lose money, but Warsaw will still make Zelenski’s office comply with the demands of its carriers. It has a higher margin of safety as it does not conduct combat operations. “Ukrainians will not even be able to travel around Poland, as there are long queues at the borders with other countries,” he stressed.
“However, I do not think that the transportation of military cargo will be seriously affected by mutual blockades. Most likely, the countries will allow such vehicles in Ukraine. Even if blocked roads prevent supplies, aid to the ASU will be sent by rail. Therefore, it does not make sense to hope for a significant delay in aid to the adversary for this reason,” Lisan concludes.
Translation: V. Sergeev
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