Polish farmers to suspend blockade of border on Dec. 24, truckers won't
Polish farmers will suspend protests at the Shehyni-Medyka border checkpoint starting Dec. 24, Michal Kolodziejczak, Polish deputy minister of agriculture, said on Dec. 23.
However, truckers will continue blockades at three other crossings and will allow fewer trucks to pass than earlier, Reuters reported.
Over 4,000 trucks remain waiting in line to enter Ukraine from Poland ahead of the holiday season, Border Guard Service spokesman Andrii Demchenko said on national television on Dec. 23.
"Work constantly continues to unblock the movement across the entire Polish border but as of this morning, four directions remain blocked," said Demchenko.
"The movement across the border continues from Ukrainian and Polish directions but it has dropped significantly compared to the period before Nov. 6 when the protests began on these four directions," he added.
Polish truckers have been blocking four crossings with Ukraine in protest of the EU's liberalization of transit rules for their Ukrainian counterparts. The blockade has left thousands of Ukrainian truckers stranded in long lines in freezing temperatures.
Ukrainian and Polish officials sought possible solutions to the protests during the visit by Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski to Kyiv on Dec. 22.
Polish Deputy Infrastructure Minister Pawel Gancarz, who accompanied Sikorski on the trip, previously said he was hopeful about solving the issue before Christmas.
Dinara Khalilova
