The largest checkpoint is unblocked: Poles ease protests on the Ukrainian border

As of April 22, Polish farmers have been blocking one checkpoint on the Ukrainian border, Rava-Ruska, for trucks. At the same time, the largest checkpoint, Yahodyn, has been unblocked, although protests continued there in the morning.

This was reported by the State Customs Service. "As of 13:40 on April 22, the strike of Polish carriers was terminated and the Yahodyn-Dorohusk checkpoint was unblocked. It is currently operating normally in both directions," the statement said.

"Yahodyn is the largest infrastructure area for crossing the border by trucks. Under normal conditions, the checkpoint is capable of handling about 1,400 trucks per day in both directions. However, during the strike, the figure was ten times lower.

At Rava-Ruska, the protesters let only a few trucks through per hour or restrict freight traffic altogether, said Andriy Demchenko, a spokesman for the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine, Ukrinform reports. He emphasized that on April 21, the Rava-Ruska checkpoint began to partially allow trucks to enter Poland. Cars and buses cross the border freely, as there are no traffic restrictions for them.

In addition, on April 20, truck traffic resumed at the Shehyni-Medica and Krakovets-Korchova checkpoints. The protests there are over, and the crossing of the border by trucks is carried out as usual.

In general, Polish farmers plan to continue the blockade of the Ukrainian border at least until April 30. Before that, the strikers promised to end the protests in early March, but extended the blockade.

On April 19, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk called on Polish farmers to stop blocking the border with Ukraine. "I would like to appeal to everyone in Poland, without exception, not to do anything that could hinder Ukraine. We will have to make decisions that will protect the Polish border and border crossings. We cannot in any way harm Ukraine in a situation where the fate of the war is being decided. I am counting on the rejection of this form of protest," the Polish prime minister said at the time.

At the same time, he emphasized that Polish public services would work to clear the checkpoints. However, Tusk does not believe that this "requires direct coercive measures."

As OBOZ.UA reported, in late March, Ukraine and Poland held talks at the level of prime ministers. Among the topics were the blocking of the border by Polish farmers and trade in the agricultural sector. As a result, the parties agreed that Poland would issue licenses to Ukraine to import four types of crops into its territory.

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