MEP: Border blockade serves only Kremlin's interests

An Ukrinform correspondent reported this.

Solidarity lanes are one of the elements of long-term support for Ukraine, so it is important to ensure their proper functioning and one cannot allow the tense situation to continue for so long, Spanish Secretary of State for the EU Pascual Navarro Rios, said.

According to him, an agreement has been reached with the Polish and Slovak governments to find the best solution to ease tensions at the border. There is also a joint committee where the Ukrainian government and the European Commission are considering these issues, the Spanish politician stated.

Andrius Kubilius, a member of the European Parliament from Lithuania, said that any blockade of border roads and solidarity lanes with Ukraine is absolutely unacceptable and serves only the interests of the Kremlin. Ukraine cannot be blocked from two sides: by Russia and by some EU member states. A 60-kilometer-long queue of 2,100 trucks is not something that you or Poland should give to Ukraine as a symbol of EU's solidarity, he emphasized.

Along with several other MPs, Kubilius called on the Polish and Slovak sides to immediately lift the blockade.

At the same time, his Polish colleague Kosma Złotowski said that carriers from Poland, Slovakia, and Hungary complain of "discrimination by the Ukrainian authorities." They suspect that it is unfair competition on the Ukrainian side, so they expect the European Commission to consider the carriers' complaint and conduct the necessary analysis.

If there is a need for more control, then let's do it. Poland has to respect its companies, and if it doesn't respect its own companies, Ukraine won't either, the Polish MP said.

His Slovakian counterpart, Katarína Roth Neveďalová, called for calm and said that the blockade by Poland was putting a lot of pressure on Slovakia and its citizens, as there is only one border crossing point for trucks between Ukraine and Slovakia. She assured that she would visit the Slovak strike in person and inform the European Parliament about what was happening there.

According to European Commissioner for Equality Helena Dalli, the European Commission is in constant contact with the Slovak, Hungarian and Polish authorities.

The European Commission has asked these three countries to lift their unilateral bans. The priority now is to work constructively with all parties to ensure that the action plan is implemented, she said.

The European Commission also promises to tighten controls to ensure that Ukrainian grain does not remain in countries "that do not need it." This problem is cited as one of the reasons for the blockade of border crossings. Instead, there is a need to facilitate the transit of these grains to EU member states that depend on them, in particular Spain. The Commission is also closely monitoring other imports from Ukraine, including sugar, poultry and eggs, which have increased dramatically.

At the same time, solidarity lanes, according to Rios, will exist as long as the Russian invasion continues and the guns fire.

As reported, in May 2022, the EU launched solidarity lanes on its borders with Ukraine, which allowed Kyiv to continue grain exports to the world market in the face of Russia's blockade of Ukrainian Black Sea ports.

On November 6, Polish carriers began a blockade of truck traffic near the three largest checkpoints on the border with Ukraine. Later, the fourth checkpoint was blocked by Polish farmers. In early December, Slovakian carriers blocked the border.

On December 11, Polish strikers unblocked the largest truck crossing point on the border with Ukraine, Yahodyn-Dorohusk.