Poland's prime minister has urged the European Union to reinstate entry permits for Ukrainian trucks, weeks into a protest by Polish hauliers over what they call unfair competition from the war-torn country.
Poland's hauliers have been blocking Ukrainian trucks at border crossing points for the past month over the EU's decision to waiver the entry system following Russia's invasion of Ukraine last year.
The waiver was meant to expire in June but was extended for another year.
"We are very firmly and unequivocally calling for the reinstatement of the transport permit system for Ukrainian trucks," Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki told reporters.
"This system was in place until spring 2022 and it worked well. It was then modified by the European Commission and today, the hauliers are blocking the border," he said.
The blockade has led to endless queues at the border and constitutes a major economic problem for Ukraine, which relies heavily on routes through Poland for its exports and imports.
The protesters say their revenues have dropped because of the permit waiver, which the EU and Ukraine have said should stay in place.
Following several rounds of talks, the two countries and protesting lorry drivers reached an agreement over the weekend in a first step towards a de-escalation of the border blockage.
The Dolhobyczow-Ugryniv crossing, which previously served only cars and buses, was opened earlier today for empty trucks travelling from Ukraine to Poland.
The crossing was opened at 1am local time this morning for empty trucks.
Ukraine said last week it had agreed some measures with Poland that could ease the pressure at the blockaded border crossings, but that the main demands of the protests had not been discussed.
"As a result of lengthy negotiations, we reached this decision together with @MI_GOV_PL," Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Oleksandr Kubrakov said late yesterday on the X social media platform.
"The ultimate goal of the work is to unblock the border, which has been blocked for a month on the Polish side and has critical consequences for the economies of both countries and the European market," he said.
A senior Ukrainian official last week said protests on the border could cost Kyiv one percentage point of GDP growth if they drag on.
Ukrainian ambassador to Poland, Vasyl Zvarych, told the state-run Ukrinform news agency that Kyiv would continue negotiations with the Polish government and had already found "common ground and compromises".
"And we hope that these proposals that we have developed together with the Polish government will be enough for the protesters to end the protest," Mr Zvarych added.
