Frontline troops in Ukraine feel tricked by Polish truck drivers’ protest
A months-long border blockade by Polish truck drivers is starting to have an effect Ukrainian soldiers in frozen trenches defending against brutal Russian attacks, making the already fierce fighting even more difficult.
A Ukrainian soldier, Oleksandr, who fought in eastern Ukraine, said his unit was still waiting for the delivery of two soldiers night vision goggles, critical for soldiers safely navigating their way to combat positions. The equipment is stuck at the border, he said, where Polish truckers have blocked major border crossings since Nov. 6, causing backups that stretch for miles.
Oleksandr, who asked to be identified only by his first name under Ukrainian military protocol, was scathing about the move. “To block the country’s borders, they must be completely detached from reality during a large-scale invasion, and in this way they also wash their hands in the blood of people waiting for the necessary help,” he said.
On the surface, the dispute that led to the blockade is simple: Polish truck drivers are angry about the limited competition from Ukrainian drivers, who are not subject to the same rules on working hours and wages as drivers from the European Union. The Poles also say they are treated unfairly by Ukrainian customs officials, who make them wait while Ukrainian drivers are given priority.
Polish truckers have demanded that the European Union reinstate the licensing system for Ukrainian truck drivers, which was lifted after Russia’s massive invasion of Ukraine, a step Brussels was reluctant to take as the war rages on.
Edward Lucas, senior fellow at the Center for European Policy Analysis, wrote Sunday that little argument about the rules had gotten out of hand. “With strong political leadership, this could all be resolved,” he said.
He added: “The economic pain felt by Polish and other truck drivers requires targeted help: exactly the kind of problem where the European Union could be helpful.”
But as the blockade enters a second month, Brussels’ inability to tackle the issue is exacerbated by the internal politics of Ukraine and its neighbors; aggressive Russian propaganda; diverse business interests; and, increasingly, bitter emotions.
Rather than approaching a solution, the blockade is spreading, with Polish farmers now blocking a fourth major crossing and Slovak transporters, aided by Hungarian truck drivers, joining the protest to obstruct another main crossing.
As of December 6, there were one estimated According to Ukrainian officials, 2,950 trucks are stranded on both sides of the Polish border, 650 at the border with Slovakia and 750 waiting to enter Ukraine from Hungary.
Ukraine and Poland agreed open a checkpoint Monday for a handful of trucks leaving Ukraine. But Poland, along with trucking associations from several other countries, is still calling on the European Union to restore the licensing system.
Adina Valean, the European Commissioner for Transport, told Radio Freedom On Tuesday, she announced her determination to defend the liberalization of freight traffic between Ukraine and the European Union despite demands from Polish protesters, making it clear that the licensing system would not be reinstated.
The ambassadors of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia held a joint meeting with Polish authorities this week to pressure them to find a solution that would end the blockade.
Vasyl Zvarych, the Ukrainian ambassador to Poland, said on Monday that negotiations were continuing and that he hoped a compromise could be reached, but, he added, “as long as Russian aggression continues, we cannot return to this permits.”
“We must unblock the border and start negotiating, because there is no other way,” Mr. Zvarych said in a statement.
The blockade is expected to lead to a 1 percent drop in Ukraine’s projected economic growth in 2023, said Yulia Klymenko, head of the Ukrainian parliament’s transport and infrastructure committee.
“Companies are not receiving enough components; supply chains are disrupted. This also applies to military equipment and its production,” Mrs. Klymenko said last week. “To even assemble drones in Ukraine, you have to get them from somewhere else.”
Volodymyr Shul, a Ukrainian soldier coordinating volunteer assistance for the 63rd Mechanized Brigade, said he did not understand how countries with a vested interest in Ukraine’s victory – and which were among its most generous allies – could impose such a blockade at once could handle. of the most difficult moments of the war.
Ukraine, he said, protects Europe from Moscow’s aggression. “To allow Russia to advance further would mean the collapse of Europe and European values,” he added.
Pawel Ozygala, 44, a transport company owner in Lublin, Poland, who is taking part in the protests, said it was a matter of basic fairness.
“There is no compromise from the Ukrainians, and we don’t want to make any compromises,” Mr. Ozygala said.
Volodymyr, a driver from the Volyn region in northwestern Ukraine who asked that only his first name be used due to the heated emotions surrounding the issue, has been waiting to cross the border for a fortnight.
Although he is in the maelstrom, he says, he sympathizes with Polish truck drivers and understands why they consider market conditions unfair.
“I have a lot of friends who died in the war,” he said. “Who was the first to open the borders and welcome our refugees when the war started? Who helped us all the time?” he asked. “Poland.”
Finding a compromise was complicated as Poland is now in the middle of forming a new coalition government a controversial election.
Polish far-right groups, including those with historical ties to Russia, have quickly tried to exploit the situation, experts say.
“Russia is benefiting from the protests, that is crystal clear,” said Wojciech Przybylski, director of Res Publicaa Warsaw-based research institute.
The frustration of Polish truck drivers is understandable, he said, and as the war continues it is natural that business interests will reassert themselves.
Warsaw, he said, must act and provide relief to the truck drivers, although that is complicated by the messy transfer of power.
Russia has been that way for a long time adept at manipulation divisions in Western societies and exploiting these rifts to its advantage, and has used the truck issue to portray Ukrainians as ungrateful and unreliable, experts say.
Two other neighboring countries of Ukraine, Hungary and Slovakia, both have leaders openly friendly to Russia and have steps taken that undermine European solidarity for Kiev. The decision by Hungarian and Slovak truck drivers to join the protests threatens to increase pressure on Ukraine’s already battered economy.
Airports in Ukraine have been closed to commercial traffic since the Russian invasion, with some of the largest ports still occupied by Russian troops and the recovery of the a shipping route in the Black Sea allows Kiev to export only a small portion of what it could export before the war.
Against that background, roads and rail links are the lifelines of Ukraine.
Although medical, military and some food supplies are supposed to be exempt from the truck blockade, Ukrainian soldiers, volunteers and entrepreneurs say the chaos is starting to wreak havoc on already precarious supply lines.
Oleksandr, the soldier, said the battle on the front remained bloody and difficult and that the border blockade increased the feeling that Ukraine was being abandoned.
“I think this action plays directly into the hands of Russia, which is at war with us and doing everything it can to destroy our country and our people,” he said.