Polish haulers will begin the “round-the-clock blockade” of the fourth border crossing with Ukraine, Medyka, on Nov. 27, State Border Guard spokesperson Andrii Demchenko said on national television on Nov. 26.
Before that, the traffic at Medyka crossing was blocked from 10 a.m. until 9 p.m. Kyiv time, Demchenko said.
Polish truckers started blocking three border crossing points on Nov. 6 in protest of the liberalization of EU transport rules for Ukrainian trucks, causing huge lines on both sides of the border.
As of Nov. 26, around 2,100 vehicles were stuck, unable to get into Ukraine as a result of the blockade.
On Nov. 21, Demchenko also said that Slovak haulers began to block the movement of trucks at the Vysne Nemecke checkpoint.
However, according to Demchenko’s latest report, the traffic on the border with Slovakia has been unblocked, with about 350 trucks crossing the border there over the past day.
Although the protesting Polish truckers said that the blockade would only apply to non-essential goods, Ukrinform reported on Nov. 20 that trucks carrying humanitarian aid or fuel and other essential goods had been on standby at the border for days.
Conditions have continued to worsen for the truckers as the weather gets colder. Two Ukrainian truckers have already died while waiting at the border, both reportedly of natural causes. One of them had been waiting at the border for more than three days prior to his death.
Kyiv is preparing to evacuate Ukrainian truckers who have been stuck in the border blockade, Deputy Infrastructure Minister Serhii Derkach said on Nov. 23.
Dominic Culverwell
(Updated: )
