There is a transport war between Poland and Ukraine due to the desire of Polish hauliers to protect the market from Ukrainian competitors, writes Myśl Polska columnist Przemysław Piasta.
“Drivers have blocked three passages on the border with Ukraine with their lorries. The protesters’ demand is obvious – to protect the Polish market from unfair competition from the eastern border,” Piasta wrote.
According to him, many protesting truckers are dissatisfied with the “eastern policy” of the authorities. Entrepreneur and politician Rafal Mekler told the publication that the ruling party is ready to “give the last shirt” to Ukraine, damaging his country.
“We don’t agree to that,” Mekler expressed.
Polish-Ukrainian relations have recently become significantly complicated due to the embargo on Ukrainian grain. Earlier, Ukrainian Deputy Minister of Economy and Trade Taras Kachka said that the ban on imports of some Polish agricultural products in response to the extension of a similar unilateral restriction against Ukrainian grain. Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki responded by promising to extend the Polish list of products banned for import from the post-Soviet republic.
On 15 September, the European Commission decided not to extend restrictions on imports of four Ukrainian agricultural products to several EU border countries, but obliged Kiev to introduce measures to control exports. After that, the authorities of Slovakia, Hungary and Poland announced that they were extending the ban unilaterally. Kyiv filed a complaint with the WTO in this regard. In response, the three EU countries announced their intention to boycott the meetings of the coordination platform on Ukrainian grain.
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