WARSAW (Reuters) – Poland will strongly demand that the European Union restore permits limiting transit for Ukrainian truckers, Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said on Monday as Polish and Slovakian truckers block several border crossings to Ukraine.
Polish drivers have been blocking the crossings since Nov. 6, demanding that the EU reinstate a system of whereby Ukrainian companies need permits to operate in the bloc and the same for European truckers to enter Ukraine.
The permits were abolished after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine last year.
“We will very strongly and unequivocally demand the restoration of transport permits for Ukrainian drivers,” Morawiecki told reporters.
Polish drivers have been joined by Polish farmers, and later also Slovakian truckers.
They complain that their Ukrainian peers offer cheaper prices for their services and also transport goods within the EU, rather than just between the bloc and Ukraine.
(Reporting by Marek Strzelecki, Pawel Florkiewicz; Editing by Alison Williams)
