Thousands of trucks were lined up at several border crossings between Ukraine and Poland on Friday, preventing goods from being delivered to Europe and causing traffic jams lasting several days as Polish truckers blocked checkpoints over what they said was unfair competition from their Ukrainian counterparts.
Ukraine’s infrastructure minister, Oleksandr Kubrakov, said in a statement on Thursday afternoon that more than 20,000 vehicles were blocked on both sides of the border, adding that the protest was already affecting the economies of Ukraine and the European Union.
The figure could not be independently confirmed — a statement from Ukraine’s state border service on Thursday said the number of trucks prevented from crossing into Ukraine was 1,700 — but there was little dispute that the disruption has been significant.
The waiting time for drivers at two of the three checkpoints that protesters have been blocking was as long as seven days as of Friday afternoon, the fifth day of the protests, according to the Polish authorities.
Persons:
Oleksandr Kubrakov
Organizations:
European Union
Locations:
Ukraine, Poland, Europe, Ukraine’s