Polish truckers resume blockade of Ukrainian border crossing

Polish truckers resume blockade of Ukrainian border crossing

Polish truckers on Monday resumed their blockade of one of the main crossings at the Ukrainian border, a protest leader said, a week after it was temporarily lifted.

Polish drivers have been blocking several crossings with Ukraine since Nov. 6, demanding that the EU reinstate a system whereby Ukrainian companies need permits to operate in the bloc and the same for European truckers to enter Ukraine.

The protest initially affected three crossings but was then expanded to four.

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Ukraine's Deputy Minister for Communities and Infrastructure, Serhiy Derkach, told national television blockades were in effect, but about 200 trucks were making it through three of the crossings.

Numbers were higher - up to 1,500 - passing through the Jahodyn-Dorohusk crossing.

Derkach said Ukraine was seeking a meeting this week with Polish authorities to resolve outstanding issues.

The blockade at the Jahodyn-Dorohusk border crossing was temporarily lifted after a local mayor took action to stop it because he feared it would threaten jobs.

However, on Friday, the District Court in Lublin overturned the mayor's decision prohibiting the gathering of truckers, which means that carriers can start protesting again from Monday, state-run news agency PAP reported.

"Now we are going to let 10 vehicles per hour through," said Tomasz Borkowski, leader of the Committee to Protect Transporters and Transport Employers.

"We gave certain things that the Ukrainian government must do by Wednesday, if they do them then maybe we will suspend the protest and up until that time we agreed that we would let through 10 vehicles per hour."

He said that if the protesters' demands were not met they would impose stricter limits on how many vehicles could cross, but declined to say exactly what the number would be.

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According to data from Poland's Customs office, the wait at the Dorohusk crossing was 68 hours on Monday. Ukrainian customs said there were some 2,000 trucks in the queue.