Devendra Kumar
Polish truckers have been protesting near several border crossings with Ukraine since November 6, demanding that the European Union reintroduce a permit system for Ukrainian truckers entering the bloc and for EU truckers entering Ukraine. The protesters, who are restricting movement in both directions near three crossings and Ukraine-bound traffic near the fourth, are blocking access for trucks moving commercial goods and letting only a handful of trucks pass per hour. Exemptions include humanitarian items, perishable goods, and military supplies for Ukraine.
The Polish truckers’ main demands include the reintroduction of a mutual permit system for Ukrainian and EU road haulage operators moving goods between Ukraine and the EU, with exemptions remaining in place for humanitarian aid and military supplies for Ukraine. They are also seeking exemptions allowing empty EU trucks re-entering the EU from Ukraine not to register in the Ukrainian electronic queuing system, which is being applied uniformly to fully loaded EU trucks as well as empty ones, causing unnecessarily long waiting times for the latter.
The Ukrainian government has said it will not compromise on licenses for Ukrainian drivers, which is one of the protesters’ main demands. Ukraine has also stated that it wants its export routes via Poland to be unblocked before it holds talks with Warsaw and the European Commission, the EU executive, aimed at ending the protests.
The European Union has expressed its opposition to the blockades, with European Transport Commissioner Adina Valean stating that Ukraine and the EU cannot be “taken hostage” by the Polish truckers blockading the border. She also complained of a lack of involvement by Polish authorities in trying to resolve the conflict.
The situation is further complicated by the fact that Poland is unlikely to have a stable government before mid-December, following the recent election. An alliance of pro-European parties is expected to form a government under pro-EU Civic Coalition leader Donald Tusk, which may provide a more favorable backdrop for resolving the dispute.
The protests have already resulted in accumulated losses of over 305 million hryvnias ($8.5 million), according to the European Business Association in Ukraine, and are expected to reduce Ukraine’s overall imports by about a fifth in November, compared to October. If the protests continue, they could cost Kyiv one percentage point of GDP growth.
In the meantime, truckers in Poland continue to block the border crossings, leaving lorries stranded for days in queues that stretch for miles. The protesters are determined to see their demands met, and it remains to be seen whether the Polish and Ukrainian governments will be able to find a solution to the dispute.