Unauthorized stop of Ukrainian trucks at the Polish border

All border checkpoints between Poland and Ukraine, with the exception of Medika-Shegini, were closed by carriers.

Journalists from Texty.org.ua visited the Medika-Shegini border checkpoint and talked with Polish protesters and Ukrainian drivers on both sides of the border. Read the report to see what they learned.

Several local marginal groups announced the blocking of Ukrainian trucks at the border. However, all their activity consists of sitting in a warm tent and giving interviews. Trucks traveling from Poland to Ukraine are physically blocked by the police. Buses and private vehicles pass without problems.

The situation regarding the departure of trucks from Ukraine to Poland is unclear. At the Medika-Shegini checkpoint, the reporter did not see any obstacles or protesters on the way out of Ukraine, but the passage of border control and customs significantly sped up during the protests. Ukrainian and Polish border guards do not explain anything and refer all questions to the press services, which are not known for their efficiency.

TRUCKS THAT GO FROM POLAND TO UKRAINE ARE PHYSICALLY BLOCKED BY POLISH POLICE

In early November, Polish carriers announced a protest. They demand the renewal of the permitting system for international transport for Ukrainian carriers, the abolition of the electronic queue at the Ukrainian border for European carriers and a ban on Ukrainian companies for transportation within the EU. (Read more about the requirements in the article by European Pravda.)

The carriers blocked all border checkpoints between Poland and Ukraine, except for one – Medika-Shegini. Many trucks rushed here, which could not wait long at other blocked checkpoints. The line was long, but the cars were moving quite quickly.

But at the end of November, “the bench closed” - Polish farmers joined the protest and blocked the last Medika-Shegini checkpoint not blocked by carriers. From that moment on, the situation here became worse. The huge flow of cars suddenly froze, and hundreds of Ukrainian drivers were stuck in a long queue at the border.

“Moor” of trucks
Near the Polish-Ukrainian border itself, the situation seems as if nothing is happening here: cars calmly cross the checkpoint on both sides, there seems to be no protest. But this is only at first glance.

DESPITE LOUD STATEMENTS, THESE ARE ONLY A FEW PEOPLE WHO STAND IN THE IMAGE OF A SMALL GALLOWE

If you drive a little away from the border through Polish territory, you can see the first signal of tension - the protesters themselves, who declared a blockade of the border. Despite the loud claims, these are just a few people standing on the side of the road near a small tent. There are posters and several police cars hanging nearby.

These few people in neon yellow vests caused huge problems. About a kilometer from the border we see the consequences of their actions. Huge worms are starting to spill out from the snow curtain - these are long lines of trucks that are waiting to be allowed into Ukraine.

Each such worm consists of several dozen trucks, which are squeezed on both sides by Polish police cars. I drive along them in a taxi towards Przemysl, a small Polish town near the border. Krzysztof, the taxi driver, warns me that this is just the beginning.

He works here every day - he transports people from the border to the nearest towns, so he has a good idea of ​​what's involved here. Let's move on. “Worms” from the trucks disappear from the road, so for a second it seems to me that I was deceived, and Krzysztof is racking up the kilometers so that I can pay more. We are already leaving for the outskirts of Przemysl, and here, it seemed, there was nowhere for several dozen trucks to hide.

After a few minutes of the road, groups of people in neon vests appear on the side of the road, but others are not like those of the protesters. “Treasure,” explains Krzysztof, meaning these are the truck drivers I want to talk to.

Behind them I see several trucks, Krzysztof turns left, and I understand that he was right. Instead of “worms,” a real wall of trucks grows here, which stands on both sides of the road.

It seems that there are no longer dozens, but hundreds of cars parked here. We drive and drive, and the wall of trucks does not disappear anywhere, more and more of them are shouting in the distance. Trucks with container trailers, car transporters filled with wrecked cars, fuel tankers, and even cars with “humanitarian aid” signs are parked here.

Finally, a gap appears in the wall - part of the road is not occupied by cars, because there is a turn here. I go through this gate and find myself on the other side of the wall. Here, between trucks and fields, strong men in neon vests walk along the snow-covered sidewalk.

“Neon Penguins”
I meet a group of five drivers. Men in colorful vests stand with their shoulders raised and tread water to keep warm in sub-zero temperatures. They look like neon penguins.

“WELL, FOR THE NEW YEAR, MAYBE WE’LL BE HOME,” SAYS DRIVERS WITHOUT CONFIDENCE

Yaroslav, a tall, blue-eyed man, says he has been standing at the border for three days. He is bringing cars to Ukraine. These three days he eats the food he has with him, but he didn’t expect to wait that long, so he thinks that he will have to buy more food.

“Do you have any idea when you will be able to cross the border?” - I ask.

“Well, maybe we’ll be home for New Year,” Yaroslav says without confidence.

Drivers explain that the Polish side allows only a few cars per hour. So if the protest does not stop, a month of waiting in line does not seem like an exaggeration, but a real prospect.

Yaroslav explains that he and his colleagues are just heading to the police to find out if the situation will change. If not, they promise to block the road themselves. A few hours later, when I was already in Lviv, I saw on the news that the drivers did what they promised.

The older, mustachioed driver Alexander says that there are guys in line with him who have been waiting for 10 days. They stood at other checkpoints for several days, and then the carriers transferred them to the Medika-Shegini checkpoint.

Until the end of November, this was the only point that was not blocked by Polish protesters. These drivers did not have time to pass before the blockade began, so they are forced to stand in line even longer. Alexander himself has been standing for 9 days - his car broke down and he had to spend time on repairs.

Shortly before the start of the protest on Meditsa, a huge number of trucks arrived here. And although the queue was huge, it moved relatively quickly - drivers crossed the border in 4 days. But this is already a long time ago, because in a normal situation, says driver Bogdan, the border could be crossed in a day or a day and a half.

Hostages of the situation
While the protest continues, drivers were forced to wait the other day on both sides of the highway near Przemysl without the opportunity to take a shower, go to a normal toilet and sleep on a bed. All the “conveniences” in this impromptu parking lot are several plastic cleaning booths, which are not enough for so many people. The driver Alexander (now a different, younger one) said that he had to take a shower in his truck in a basin. Other drivers use wet wipes.

However, the Polish side several times brought hot soups, water and bread to Ukrainian drivers.

Alexander says that although it is unbearable to be here, what he wants is not an improvement in conditions, but an end to the protest.

We are hostages of this situation. The holidays are coming, all normal people want to be at home. I understand that we are not in the worst situation - it is very difficult for the guys on the front line in the trenches. But understand us: we are here in a normal civilized country, but we are treated not like people, but like cattle. The police say: “We are for human rights.” Well, there are people standing there, and who are we here - a bunch of idiots?”

On the way back to the border, I ask Krzysztof what he thinks about these protests. “I don’t know,” the man answers. - But it’s winter now, what kind of protests can there be?

Internal problems
We return a few kilometers closer to the border. There is a completely different atmosphere in the Polish protesters' tent. This place, like a small fortress, is protected by several Polish police cars. The protesters are sitting in a large tent (protected from the wind and has a heater), and from there it smells of smoked sausages.

There is a barrel with a fire near the tent - I warm myself next to it while I wait for the protesters to talk to me. There are six of them in the tent, but sometimes other men come to them, without neon vests.

While they are loudly discussing something inside, a branded car of a Polish TV channel drives up, from which a tall, stately presenter emerges, holding a blue-topped microphone in his leather gloves.

Finally, a man of about 60 with a round figure, a sharp nose and a slightly graying triangular mustache comes up to me. This is Roman Kodruv, who represents the local farmers protesting here. The Shegini-Medika border point is the only place where it is not Polish carriers who are protesting, but farmers who have joined the protest as a sign of solidarity.

Mr. Kodruv explains that he is “for” Ukraine, and says that this region has accepted many Ukrainian refugees. They say that the protesters are not blocking the movement of military and humanitarian aid to Ukraine, as well as fuel trucks.

But Kodrov believes that the flow of Ukrainian goods is destroying the economy of the region, and the Ukrainians carried out scams with grain. And that Ukrainian grain has caused enormous damage to local farmers, because they are forced to sell it cheaper than before. (The conflict over Polish grain was explained by Texty.org.ua in this article.)

“We are not against the Ukrainians, but against the governments that do not reach any consensus and do not block this flow of grain to us,” says Kodruv.

When the same Polish TV presenter joins our conversation, Roman Kodrów switches gears and starts talking about the country’s internal problems. He says that the Polish government is taking loans from farmers but raising taxes.

Subsequently, another protester, Peter, explains to me how the protest is carried out. All trucks stop near Przemysl and stand in line. Local police check the documents of the vehicles: if the cargo is humanitarian or military aid, fuel or perishable food, they are allowed through first.

This was confirmed to me by Ukrainian truck drivers standing in line (although the Ukrainian government stated that it had recorded a violation of this promise). The police allow vehicles carrying any other cargo to enter the border at a speed of four trucks per hour.

Electronic queue
Subsequently, Peter treats me to hot tea, gives me waffles, and I go back to my native land. I am returning to Ukraine at a speed that truck drivers can only dream of. 15 minutes at the checkpoint - and the phone clock again shows +1 hour of time and I am greeted by a poster “Welcome back to Ukraine!”

The situation in the Ukrainian border village of Shegini, in contrast to the Polish Przemysl, seems better. Although there are many trucks parked at the checkpoint, there are no “worms”, no “moors” of trucks, or “neon penguins” in the city or its surroundings.

Between Shegini and the neighboring village of Volitsa, at the exit from the road, there is a small terminal where several dozen trucks are parked. The drivers who stopped there explain to me that the situation on the Ukrainian side is not so critical, because there is an electronic queue for drivers. They are told in advance when they will be able to clear border control, so they can, for example, not leave their city earlier than necessary, or leave the car at the terminal and go home.

PREVIOUSLY, THE DRIVER SAYS, HE COULD PASS BORDER CONTROL LEAVING UKRAINE IN LESS THAN A DAY

This is what the driver Yuri, whom I met at the terminal, did. While we are talking, his truck hums slightly, as if he has started the engine and is about to go somewhere. In fact, this is the noise of the refrigerator compartment - Yuri must transport frozen food to Switzerland.

Although the electronic queue improves conditions for drivers, they now have to wait much longer than usual. Yuri has been waiting for an invitation to the checkpoint for 11 days, and the program shows that he needs to stand in line for another 2 days.

All this time, the refrigerator in the trailer must work, so his company suffers great losses due to downtime. Previously, the driver says, he could clear border control in less than a day.

Neighbor Yuri's driver, whose truck is parked in a nearby parking space, is named Vladimir. He had just returned from Poland - he was bringing cosmetics there, and now he stopped at the terminal to take a little break from the road. Vladimir stood in line for a little over 5 days, of which about 12 hours at the border control point itself. The man explains that in the current situation this is still normal time - his colleague has been standing at another crossing point for 11 days.

Vladimir himself, when traveling from Ukraine to Poland, spent about 20 days in an electronic queue.

Drivers don’t know why the line is delayed on the Ukrainian side. And the employees of the Ukrainian border service refused to answer my questions without approval from above.

We sent a request to the State Border Service of Ukraine so that they could explain why the passage from the Ukrainian side was slowed down. As soon as we receive a response, we will add it to this article.

They also sent a request to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to find out what the Ukrainian side is doing to convince the Polish authorities to take measures to unblock the border.