Why demands of Polish protesters cannot be fulfilled: Ukrainian official explains
Serhiy Derkach, Deputy Minister of Development of Communities, Territories and Infrastructure of Ukraine (photo: Vitalii Nosach, RBC-Ukraine)
The Polish government cannot unilaterally influence the agreement between Ukraine and the European Union on freight liberalization, which is one of the demands of the protesters. Serhiy Derkach, Deputy Minister of Development of Communities, Territories and Infrastructure of Ukraine, has given details of the situation to RBC-Ukraine's reporter.
"In fact, the only main demand of the protesters is to cancel the agreement on freight liberalization and return to permits. The agreement has been in effect for a year and a half and should be in force until June 30, 2024. It was signed between Ukraine and the European Union, so it is obviously impossible for the Polish government to do anything unilaterally," Derkach explained.
Protesting for the sake of blockade, not dialog
According to the deputy minister, the protesters are well aware of this, which is why the Ukrainian side believes that Polish carriers staged the protest to physically block the border rather than resolve the issue at the negotiating table.
Derkach added that the Ukrainian side has already met three times with representatives of the Polish government and the European Commission at the border. The parties agreed to continue the discussion in order to resolve issues related to further work on the agreement.
"But today it (the agreement - ed.) is in effect. The protesters are actually making it impossible for the Polish government and the EU to resolve this situation, and are simply physically blocking the border for an indefinite period of time," Derkach said.
Protesters violate international agreements
Violations of admission of humanitarian aid and dangerous goods committed by the protesters violate international agreements and the conditions under which the carriers received permission from local authorities to hold the protest.
Speaking to the protesters, Derkach said that a meeting of the European Commission would be held on December 4 and urged the protesters to let the trucks pass in order not to waste time. The Polish carriers, for their part, refused to take a "pause."
Moreover, the latter claimed that they were allegedly letting humanitarian aid and dangerous goods across the border. In fact, all the trucks are stopped.
Blocking of checkpoints on the border with Ukraine
On November 6, Polish carriers went on strike and blocked three checkpoints, including:
- Yagodyn-Dorogusk;
- Krakovets-Korcheva;
- Rava-Ruska-Hrebenne.
The carriers put forward a number of demands, including
- restoration of permitting relations with Ukraine
- tightening of transportation regulations
- a ban on registering companies in Poland if their finances and accounting are outside the EU
- access to the Ukrainian Shlyakh system
- separate queues for EU cars in the eCherha system
- separate queues for empty cars.
Since the beginning of the blockade, two Ukrainian drivers have already died on the border of Ukraine and Poland.
To learn more about the situation on the border with Poland as of November 25, please see the RBC-Ukraine report.
