The International and the European Federations of Journalists (IFJ-EFJ) urged Polish authorities to investigate after two separate instances of Ukrainian journalists being detained in Poland were reported in recent weeks.
The Korczowa-Krakovets crossing on the Polish-Ukrainian border remains open for trucks heading to Poland despite initial reports that Polish protesters would resume the blockade on March 13, Border Guard Service spokesperson Andrii Demchenko said on March 14.
Warsaw will neither encourage nor prevent the return of Ukrainian refugees to Ukraine, Polish Ambassador to Kyiv Jaroslaw Guzy said in an interview with Deutsche Welle published on March 13. Poland hosts around 1 million Ukrainians who fled from Russia's all-out war, the highest number of all countries.
Negotiations between the Polish and Ukrainian governments will take a few weeks to resolve the issue of Polish farmers blocking the border with Ukraine, Pawel Kowal, Chairman of the Polish Sejm's Foreign Affairs Committee, said in an interview with publicly funded radio broadcaster Ukrainian Radio.
Polish protesters resumed blocking cargo vehicles at the Korczowa-Krakovets border crossing with Ukraine at 11 a.m. on March 13 after suspending the protests there on March 9, Ukraine's Customs Service said.
Two journalists of the Rayon.ua.in news outlet were detained in Poland and deported while reporting on a trade on the Russian-Polish border, the news outlet said on March 13.
U.S. President Joe Biden said on March 11 that "there's no need for more troops at the Polish border" ahead of a meeting with his Polish counterpart Andrzej Duda and Prime Minister Donald Tusk scheduled to take place in Washington on March 12.
Ukrainian consul in Poland Serhii Tsaruk visited the Dorohusk crossing on March 11 and reported that he did not see any blocked buses, following conflicting reports that Polish protesters were preventing buses from crossing the border.
Infrastructure Minister Oleksandr Kubrakov said earlier on March 11 that "protesters and police are stopping buses going to and from Poland. Passengers are being held without any explanation."
Polish President Andrzej Duda and Prime Minister Donald Tusk will visit the United States on March 12, the 25th anniversary of Poland's NATO accession, to advocate for continued U.S. military aid to Ukraine.
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk failed to reach an agreement with Polish farmers to end protests against Ukrainian agricultural imports during a meeting on March 9, Polskie Radio reported.
Demchenko said on the national telethon that the border blockade could end on March 13, but remained cautious about whether or not the protestors will resume traffic flow after the date.
"The presence of NATO forces in Ukraine is not unthinkable," Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski said. "Because it is about (Russian President Vladimir) Putin being afraid, not us being afraid of Putin," he added.
Calling the European Commission to impose sanctions on Russian agricultural goods was one of the suggestions proposed by Ukraine to Poland to solve the ongoing blockade led by Polish farmers.
Warsaw calls for EU sanctions on Belarusian and Russian agricultural imports following Ukrainian investigation revealing multimillion-dollar trade between Poland and authoritarian neighbors. Belarus hits rock bottom in the annual Freedom in the World report, ranking it as the least free country in Europe and the 14th least free state in
Kyiv is open to trade restrictions with the EU to defuse tensions with Warsaw but urges bloc-wide import bans on Russian grain, Ukraine's Deputy Economy Minister and Trade Representative Taras Kachka told the Financial Times (FT) in a comment published on March 6.
Polish farmers, agrarian workers, foresters, and hunters staged a general strike in Warsaw on March 6 in protest against Ukrainian agricultural imports and EU environmental policies.
Poland plans to ask the EU to impose sanctions on Russian and Belarusian agricultural products and foodstuffs, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said on March 4.
Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal pointed out that economically, the ongoing trade disputes and border blockade cost Poland more than Ukraine. Only 5% of Ukrainian agricultural exports are transported by road, with 90% being shipped out via maritime routes, he noted.
Ukraine plans to export a record 13 gigawatt hours of electricity to other countries on March 4, namely to Slovakia, Hungary, Poland, Romania, and Moldova, Ukrenergo, Ukraine's state-owned energy operator, announced.
Warsaw is conducting informal negotiations with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on granting Polish farmers possible exemptions to the EU's Green Deal, Poland's Deputy Foreign Minister Andrzej Szejna said on March 3.
Six Ukrainian citizens were injured after a car drove into a crowd of pedestrians on March 1 in Szczecin, Poland, Ukrinform reported.
All six checkpoints at the Ukrainian-Polish border remain blocked due to the ongoing Polish farmers’ protests, State Border Guard spokesperson Andrii Demchenko said on March 3 on national television.
Polish farmers have completely blocked the Medyka-Shehyni border crossing around 1 p.m. on March 1, State Border Guard spokesperson Andrii Demchenko said on national television.
While agricultural trade with Russia or Belarus is not prohibited or sanctioned in the EU, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk recently said that Warsaw would consider banning food imports from Russia, following Latvia's example.
Poland will consider banning food imports from Russia after it "analyzes" the results of Latvia's decision to do so, Bloomberg reported on Feb. 29, citing Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk.
Taras Kachka, Ukraine's deputy economy minister who takes part in talks with Poland on the border blockade and trade disputes, said on Feb. 28 that the border's closure was not mentioned during the talks.
Poland leads talks with Ukraine on the temporary closure of their mutual border for trade, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said on Feb. 28, stressing that such a solution would be "painful for both parties," RMF24 reported.
Tens of thousands of people gathered in Warsaw on Feb. 27 to join the Polish farmers' protest against Ukrainian agricultural imports and EU environmental policies.
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg, as well as leaders of Germany, the U.K., and other European NATO member states, have reportedly said they are not considering deploying their troops to Ukraine after French President Emmanuel Macron suggested the possibility of Western military presence in the country.
Sikorski urged the United States to provide Ukraine with desperately needed military aid in a speech delivered at the Atlantic Council in Washington, D.C. on Feb. 26. .
Starting early next month, carriers from Poland's Lublin and Podkarpackie regions want to relaunch their protests at the Hrebenne-Rava-Ruska, Dorohusk-Yahodyn, and Krakovets-Korczowa crossings and possibly also at the Medyka-Shehyni checkpoint, RMF24 reported.
