Hauliers end protest at Polish-Ukrainian border
Polish hauliers ended their brief blockade of the Dorohusk-Yahodyn border crossing with Ukraine on Wednesday following a Lublin Appeal Court ruling that banned the demonstration, Poland's road authority GDDKiA has reported.
"After consultations with legal counsel, we decided that since we are aware of the judicial decision, an official letter from the court was not essential. Therefore, on Tuesday night, we ended the gathering," one of the organisers of the transporters' protest Rafal Mekler told PAP on Wednesday.
The order, which is final and not subject to appeal, was issued on Tuesday during a court session that was closed to the public. It upheld the earlier ban imposed by Wojciech Sawa, the head of the Dorohusk municipality, in early May.
At that time, demonstrations in the vicinity of National Route 12, which leads to the Dorohusk-Yahodyn border crossing, were banned under his directive. Sawa argued that the checkpoint was classified as critical infrastructure and that long queues of trucks could jeopardise civilian safety, as well as disrupt the operations of businesses and customs agencies.
The border crossing was blocked for more than a day, with carriers permitting only one truck per hour to cross the border in each direction. However, private vehicles, passenger buses, and trucks carrying fossil fuels, food, humanitarian and military aid were allowed to pass without restrictions.
The hauliers' demands included the reinstatement of limitations for Ukrainian transport companies entering Poland and the implementation of a ban on the registration of transport businesses with non-EU-based assets.
These and other demands appear to have been acknowledged by Poland's Ministry of Infrastructure, which confirmed that efforts were underway to revise regulations regarding the transportation of road goods.
The ministry also committed to reviewing, among other issues, the registration of companies whose funds are held outside the EU, although it cautioned that implementing changes may prove challenging due to existing free trade regulations.
yb/ jch/ ao/