 |
| The dark side of the Ukraine-Poland 'love affair': The never-ending border blockade, even new Prime Minister Tusk is helpless. (Source: Ukrinform) |
Polish drivers continue to block the border with Ukraine at three checkpoints these days. The blockade of the checkpoints Rava-Ruska-Hrebenne, Krakivets-Korczowa and Yahodyn-Dorogusk continues, seemingly “without end”. Thousands of Ukrainian trucks have been stuck in long queues for days.
"About three thousand trucks are still lined up at the border between Ukraine and Poland in the direction of three blocked checkpoints," said the spokesman for the State Border Guard Service, Andriy Demchenko.
As of the morning of January 2, 1,620 trucks were still lined up in these three directions, according to the Polish border guards.
Mr. Demchenko added that earlier, on December 24, traffic at the Shehyni-Medyka checkpoint had become more open, but there was still a long queue - 1,200 trucks were waiting in line.
Traffic in other areas of the border is not disrupted, the official said. However, due to the actions on Polish territory, drivers and transporters are having to look for alternative routes, which has led to increased truck traffic in other directions and, as a result, longer queues.
As of the next morning, 420 trucks were waiting to cross the border from Romania to Ukraine at the Porubne checkpoint. 200 trucks were waiting to cross the border from Slovakia to Ukraine at the Uzhhorod checkpoint.
Polish transport companies have been blocking truck movements at several border crossings with Ukraine since November, protesting the EU's cancellation of transit permits for Ukrainian truck drivers.
It is estimated that every day a truck stops running, Ukrainian transport companies pay 300-350 euros in operating costs. That means that every day hundreds of vehicles stuck at border crossings will cause losses of hundreds of thousands of euros.
In addition to exports being hampered by the collapse of a Black Sea grain deal with Russia, protests against unfair competition by Polish truck drivers are also indirectly compounding the damage to Ukraine's wartime economy.
Recently, Poland's new government, led by new Prime Minister Donald Tusk, officially took office, marking the end of eight years of rule by the conservative Law and Justice (PiS) party.
The new prime minister, who is essentially an “old man” – Mr. Tuski, who served two consecutive terms as Polish prime minister until 2014, returned with a pledge to mend Warsaw’s relationship with the EU and ease tensions with Kiev, which have been strained by a conflict over a grain embargo and border blockade.
But while Mr Tusk's return is seen as vital - a "source of energy" to stabilize Ukraine, the ongoing economic disputes between Kiev and Warsaw are expected to persist and relations will remain difficult to mend.
In fact, heading a broad coalition in the government, the new Prime Minister is forced to navigate different opinions – among them, not a few see Ukraine as an economic competitor.
In his inaugural speech to parliament, the new prime minister made clear his stance on supporting Ukraine amid its confrontation with Russia.
“We will… speak out and unequivocally ask the world, the Western world, to mobilize all its forces to support Ukraine,” Mr. Tusk said as he laid out his vision for Poland’s future trajectory.
The Polish leader also said there was “no doubt” about his stance on supporting Ukraine amid a full-scale military conflict with Russia.
In fact, it must be admitted that Warsaw's support at the military-strategic level has always been very strong.
However, relations between Poland and Ukraine have faced tensions in recent months due to conflicts over grain imports and, more recently, a border blockade initiated by Polish shipping lines, due to concerns about competition from Ukraine.
Two weeks before assuming the top job, new Prime Minister Tusk criticized the Ukraine strategy of previous Polish leaders as disastrous, unprofessional and cynical. In turn, PiS leader Jaroslaw Kaczynski accused Tusk of being a “German agent”.
In contrast to foreign policy or military assistance cooperation, Ukrainian-Polish economic relations are significantly more complicated.
Ukraine’s border with Poland has grown in importance since Moscow cut off easy access to Kiev’s Black Sea ports. Poland initially welcomed millions of Ukrainian refugees, spearheaded arms supplies and backed the country’s rapid entry into the EU. But as the costs of those policies have grown, so have political tensions.
Recently, in a speech to parliament, Mr. Tusk vowed to resolve the border crisis that has lasted for more than a month and "meet the needs of Polish truck drivers as soon as possible and immediately lift the border blockade".
However, observers now say that despite the possibility of a reduction in open confrontations, Kiev should not expect smoother negotiations on economic issues. Even Ukrainian officials admit that in economic areas such as agriculture, Kiev and Warsaw are competitors. Competition – this “dark side” of the economy – is a fundamental concern for any government in Warsaw.
Source
Comment (0)