“According to preliminary information, the promotion will last 48 hours with a possible extension”, — write: www.radiosvoboda.org
“As previously reported, vehicles weighing more than 3.5 tons will not be allowed to enter Poland. In addition, one truck per hour will be allowed to leave Poland. The restrictions will not apply to the category of passenger cars and buses,” border guards say.
According to the DPSU, there is currently no accumulation of cargo vehicles in front of the checkpoint for departure from Ukraine. There are about 150 trucks at the entrance to Ukraine. The protesters themselves are a kilometer away from the Polish checkpoint “Medyka”.
The day before, Polish farmers announced that they plan to restrict traffic in front of the “Medyka-Szehyny” checkpoint.
Roman Kondruv, the leader of the organization “Pidcarpathian Deceived Village”, told RFE/RL that the Ministry of Health did not agree to the start of the protest, but the farmers appealed to the court and received permission to hold an action near the border.
“We are not against Ukraine, we are in solidarity with Ukraine, this protest is directed against Ursula von der Leyen and against European structures, so that they do not sign agreements with Mercosur, with the countries of South America. We want to draw attention to the difficult situation of the Polish farmer, we want Prime Minister Tusk to inform Ursula von der Leyen that we do not agree with the influx of agricultural goods from South America, which have low standards,” says Kondruv.
Information about new possible farm protests appeared as early as October 8. The promotion was announced by the organization “Pidkarpatske oshukane selo” on its social networks. This caused concern among Ukrainian entrepreneurs, and they began to turn to business associations to act in advance and try to prevent a possible blocking of the border. Head of the Analytical Center of the Union of Ukrainian Entrepreneurs Hennadiy Radchenko informed Radio Svoboda about this. According to him, “the demands of Polish farmers are purely internal and have nothing to do with Ukraine.”
On February 9, 2024, a farmers’ strike announced by the Solidarity trade union began in Poland. They blocked all checkpoints, as well as roads and highways in individual voivodeships.
In addition to the ban on the import of agricultural products from Ukraine, the Polish protesters oppose the European agricultural policy, in particular, against the implementation of the “green order” – it refers to a number of environmental and climate requirements. Support for animal husbandry is also among the requirements.
On March 20, Polish protesters went on a nationwide strike. Farmers’ actions took place in almost 600 places and approximately 70,000 people participated in them.
Earlier, the Ambassador of Ukraine to Poland, Vasyl Zvarych, said that certain restrictions have already been applied in trade with Ukraine.