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The largest crossing between the two nations has been blocked over tax policies and a deal between the EU and the South American trade bloc Mercosur
A group of Polish farmers shut down the nation’s largest border crossing with Ukraine on Saturday morning to protest agriculture tax hikes enacted by the government and the EU free trade agreement with the South American trade bloc Mercosur currently being discussed within the bloc.
The protesters, who were wearing yellow vests and waving Polish flags, walked back and forth over a pedestrian crossing near the Medyka-Shehyni checkpoint, thus blocking traffic along the road. Around 30 people took part in the demonstration, according to the Polish media.
The organizers initially planned to hold the protest from early October until the end of the year. The initiative was originally opposed by the mayor of Medyka until a Polish court sided with the farmers, ruling that banning the demonstration was illegal.
According to the organizers, the blockade only applies to trucks, whereas passenger cars, buses, and vehicles transporting military and humanitarian goods are allowed to pass. The Ukrainian border guard service, which published a video from the scene, said that no vehicles weighing more than 3.5 tons would be allowed to enter Poland. One truck will be allowed to cross from Poland into Ukraine per hour.
The blockade is expected to last at least 48 hours, according to the Ukrainian authorities, who also said it could be further extended beyond that. Some 150 trucks had amassed on the Polish side of the border seeking to enter Ukraine, the border guard said in a statement on Facebook. The Polish police said that drivers seeking to cross the border “can expect difficulties on the roads.”
The video published by the Ukrainian authorities showed a line of trucks, numbering in the dozens, stopped on the road near the border crossing. Passenger cars and minivans could be seen forming a separate queue nearby. The border checkpoint appeared to be at least partially closed.
The protesters accuse the government in Warsaw of failing to fulfill its promise not to raise the agriculture tax and leave at the 2023 level. They also criticized Prime Minister Donald Tusk’s cabinet for introducing other regulations they deem unfavorable for the agriculture industry.
“Where are we to appeal? [Are] we supposed to go to Mr. Tusk?” Roman Kondrow, the head of a regional farmers’ association, told the Rzeczpospolita newspaper, adding that the government would not listen to them. “That is why we wanted to put pressure at the border,” he added.
The farmers’ actions drew the ire of the Ukrainian side. “Polish farmers are not making any demands regarding Ukrainian goods but are using the border as a tool to influence their government,” the Ukrainian Agriculture Ministry said. Kiev had reportedly been aware of the planned protests for quite some time.
Ukrainian Agriculture Minister Vitaly Koval held two meetings with his Polish counterpart, Czeslaw Siekierski, over the issue and raised it with the EU Commission as well, the local media reported.
Some on the Ukrainian side blamed the issue on Russia. “There is an opinion that this is done with Russian money, because who wins from it?” said Gennady Radchenko, an expert with the Union of Ukrainian Entrepreneurs. “We also do not understand why farmers believe that Poland’s internal problems can be solved by blocking the border, trade, and the way to the country where there is a war. The reaction of Ukrainian business and the media is very negative,” he added.
Moscow has not commented on the developments. This is not the first time Polish farmers have blocked border crossings with Ukraine. Similar protests have taken place on numerous occasions in recent years as farmers have opposed what they perceived as the EU allowing unfairly cheap agriculture imports from Ukraine into the bloc.
