How to stop a new blockade wave on the border of Ukraine and Poland

The blockade of Ukraine's western border has ended, but not for long. Polish farmers announced a new blockade of the border with Ukraine.

Its start is scheduled for February 9. At the same time, all roads from Ukraine to Poland will be blocked, as well as crossings at all checkpoints. The Hungarians also plan to join the blockade. “Apostrophe” figured out what the essence of the demands was, whether they affected the interests of our country and whether it was possible to do without protests.

Audit of the “transport visa-free regime”

The western borders of Ukraine, which were under blockade for several months, are still free. Polish road carriers announced the suspension of their action on January 17. Slovak, Hungarian and Romanian protesters soon followed suit, making it possible to restore normal freight traffic across the border. According to the Minister of Development of Communities, Territories and Infrastructure, Alexander Kubrakov, after the end of the blockade, more than 5 thousand trucks have already left Ukraine.

However, the music did not play for long. In Poland, farmers began to rebel again. The border blockade is organized by the Solidarity farmers' union, calling for a general farmers' strike and a blockade of all routes of communication with Ukraine. The promotion will begin on February 9 at 10:00.

Farmers say that they were forced to such an unprecedented action by the uncertain position of the Polish government, as well as the position of the European Commission on the import of agricultural products from Ukraine.

Read: It’s contagious: why people in Hungary and Romania started talking about seizing Ukrainian lands

“Our patience has run out. The position of Brussels on the last day of January 2024 is unacceptable for our entire agricultural community,” say Polish farmers.

The statement by Polish farmers was preceded by a message that on January 31, the European Commission proposed to extend the suspension of import duties and quotas for Ukrainian exports to the European Union for another year, strengthening the protection of sensitive agricultural products. The European Commission statement emphasized that the proposal to extend the suspension of restrictions is made in accordance with the EU's commitment to support Ukraine for as long as necessary.

However, as we see, farmers not only in Poland, but also in Hungary do not agree with this idea. And this despite the fact that in Warsaw, after the visit of Prime Minister Donald Tusk to Kyiv, they aimed to find a compromise option.

“The Polish side is already working on proposals for such changes and has contacted Ukraine so that we support these changes,” Vladimir Balin, vice-president of the Association of International Road Carriers of Ukraine (AsMAP), tells Apostrophe. “However, today neither AsMAP nor, as far as I know, the government knows the exact content of these proposals. It is almost certain that they will not contain a return to the permit system, which Ukrainian carriers strongly oppose, but there may be other conditions that are unacceptable to us. Therefore, before we support any proposals, we would like to become familiar with their content.”

A new wave of protests can be used by Warsaw to increase pressure on Ukraine and extract preferences for itself.

Quotas are coming back

The complexity of the situation is aggravated by the fact that the Ukrainian border was also actively blocked by farmers of neighboring states. They are particularly dissatisfied with the penetration of Ukrainian agricultural products into their markets, which are cheaper than their own. However, most of the issues that concern farmers, as in the case of drivers, are in no way directly related to our country.

“If we look at the latest actions of Polish farmers, their main demands concerned the availability of loans, refusal to increase taxes, subsidies for certain types of products, etc.,” said Denis Marchuk, deputy chairman of the All-Ukrainian Agrarian Council. – The Romanian farmers who blocked the checkpoints were most concerned about the increase in fuel prices. And only after these questions did they mention that products were coming from Ukraine that competed with their own.”

Consequently, the protesters’ main questions are not for Ukraine, but for their own governments and the European Commission. However, neighboring countries have already developed a rather serious habit: no matter what questions and to whom you have, block the border with Ukraine. This is a reliable way to get into the news and attract the attention of politicians.

“So, unfortunately, such cases may continue to happen,” says Denis Marchuk. “In addition, I would not be surprised if the trace of Russia, which is very interested in such blockings,” is eventually found in these actions.”

In the meantime, Ukraine is working to offer its neighbors a procedure for the supply of agricultural products that would satisfy all parties. In particular, it is proposed to introduce an import verification regime.

“This regime is already in effect in Romania and Bulgaria,” says Denis Marchuk. – It lies in the fact that in general Ukrainian products are not freely exported to these countries. However, if local farmers still need to purchase a certain type of grain in Ukraine, then they make a corresponding request and can receive this product in the quantity they need. Thus, Ukrainian products are imported into these countries only in the quantities that their economies need.”

Ukrainian Prime Minister Denis Shmigal proposed introducing the same procedure to his Polish counterpart Donald Tusk during his visit to Kyiv. According to the Ukrainian side, this will make it possible to remove claims from Polish farmers, at least regarding bilateral trade.

Our government has very little time left to resolve all controversial issues with neighboring EU member states. And if the existing contradictions are not eliminated, pretty soon we risk finding ourselves again in border chaos, when thousands of trucks line up in kilometer-long queues at the western borders of our country.