EU Council to consider Polish-Ukrainian border blockade

The situation on the Polish-Ukrainian border will be the subject of consideration at the EU Transport Council, which will take place on December 4 in Brussels.

The issue was initiated by Poland, Ukrinform reports, citing Rmf24.

As noted, the protest of Polish carriers will be considered at the end of the meeting in the "Miscellaneous Issues" block.

In addition to Poland, representatives of Slovakia and Hungary will speak at the meeting, in particular, about the impact of the so-called transport visa-free regime on the situation of the Polish transport business.

A representative of the European Commission told the Polish newspaper that there is no question of returning to the practice of issuing permits for Ukrainian carriers, as this would be contrary to EU law. At the same time, the European Commission is pushing Ukraine to create additional lanes for empty trucks returning from Ukraine.

As Ukrinform reported, Polish carriers began an indefinite protest on November 6. Among the main demands to the Ukrainian government is the return of the practice of permits for Ukrainian carriers, which was canceled by the agreement with the EU until June 30, 2024. The protesters want the agreement to be terminated and the permit regime to be restored from January 1.

On November 23, Polish farmers joined the protest of local carriers and, putting forward their demands, began blocking the movement of freight transport at the Medyka-Shehyni checkpoint near Przemysl.

The leader of the Civic Platform, Donald Tusk, accused the Polish government of inaction in the situation with the blocking of border crossings.