KYIV (Reuters) -The first 30 empty lorries passed through the newly opened Uhryniv-Dolhobychuv crossing on the Ukrainian-Polish border, which Kyiv hopes will unblock main land corridors amid protests by Polish drivers, Ukraine's border service said on Monday. Polish hauliers' main demand is to stop Ukrainian truckers having permit-free access to the European Union, something that Kyiv and Brussels say is impossible. "As of the morning of December 4, border guards cleared 30 heavy vehicles with a total permissible weight of more than 7.5 (metric) tons for departure from Ukraine at the Uhryniv checkpoint," the service said on Telegram messaging app.
Ukrainian lorry drivers waiting to cross the border at the Korczowa-Krakovets checkpoint amid a blockade by Polish hauliers have decided to suspend their hunger strike following negotiations. Source: European Pravda, citing Suspilne.
Former Ukrainian Ambassador to Poland Andrii Deshchytsia explained in an interview with NV Radio why Polish truckers began their protest at a time when Poland is between governments, and how the dispute could be resolved.
About 2,000 vehicles are waiting to enter Ukraine at three checkpoints blocked by Polish hauliers. Source: Ukrainian Ministry for Communities, Territories and Infrastructure Development on 26 November, writes European Pravda Details: The ministry said on 25 November that with the help of the Association of International Road Carriers, 2,500 litres of water, 1,200 meals and all necessary medicine were distributed to the drivers stuck at the border at the Yahodyn-Dorogusk checkpoint.
Ukraine's top truckers union said on Friday its hopes of a rapid end to Polish trucker protests at the border were fading, as Kyiv prepared to evacuate its hauliers stranded in Poland. Two Ukrainian drivers have died and thousands of trucks have been stuck for days in the winter cold as Polish truckers have blocked the roads to four crossings on the border, a key route for Ukrainian trade during Russia's full-scale invasion. "Frankly speaking, the more we talk to them the less hope we have," Leonid Kostiuchenko, president of the Ukrainian Association of International Carriers, said in an interview on national television.