More than 20,000 vehicles were waiting on Thursday at the border between Ukraine and Poland, which Polish truckers have blocked since the beginning of the week to denounce the “unfair” competition from their neighbors, the Ukrainian Ministry of Reconstruction announced.
“More than 20,000 vehicles are currently blocked on both sides (of the border),” the ministry stated on Telegram, estimating that this was harming the economies of both countries, but also “other countries.”
Several dozen Polish transport companies began blocking three crossing points between Ukraine and Poland on Monday. They demand that entry permits be reapplied to their Ukrainian competitors, in order to reduce their number.
At the Rava Ruska border crossing in the west, some Ukrainian truck drivers told AFP that they have been waiting for several days. “I’ve been here for a long time,” grows impatient Dmitro, who claims to have arrived four days ago and to have exhausted his water and food reserves.
Oleksandre, 36, describes difficult conditions. “There are no bathrooms,” he laments, indicating that he has been blocked for two days. “It is not normal to close the border with Ukraine during the war with Russia. It is just more economic pressure on Ukraine,” laments the truck driver.
The Polish organizers affirm that they could continue their action “in the long term, at least until the end of the year”, according to Demchenko, who specified that buses and cars can circulate instead.
