Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said that his government will in the next few hours add checkpoints on the border with Ukraine to the list of critical infrastructure. This decision will improve the transportation of military and humanitarian aid to Ukraine.
This is reported by Polish Radio and RMF24.
"In order to provide a 100 percent guarantee that military aid, equipment, ammunition, humanitarian and medical aid will reach the Ukrainian side without delay, we will include border crossing points with Ukraine and certain sections of highways and railways to the list of critical infrastructure objects. This is a matter of the next few hours," Tusk noted.
Such a decision will mean a different type of organization for the passage of critical goods and will ensure their movement across the border without any delays or obstacles. He added that the issues of support for agricultural producers and support for Ukraine should be distinguished.
- From November 2023, Poles periodically block checkpoints on the border with Ukraine. Polish carriers, and then farmers, have been obstructing the movement of trucks for varying lengths of time, demanding from their authorities and the European Union to improve working conditions and preferences. They are asking for a ban on the import of agricultural products from Ukraine that do not meet EU standards, the return of the permit system for Ukrainian transporters, subsidies for fertilizers, compensation for excise duty on fuel, payment of subsidies, and have other demands that have nothing to do with Ukraine.
- On February 20 , Polish farmers began a general strike across the country. The Association of Hunters joined them. Protesters blocked six checkpoints on the border with Ukraine. But in the evening of the same day, traffic restrictions at three checkpoints were eased.
- Against the backdrop of the Polesʼ blockade of Ukraineʼs western border, Volodymyr Zelensky instructed the government to be at the border with Poland by February 24 and asked Prime Minister Donald Tusk to come there as well, urging Duda to support the governmentʼs dialogue.
- The Polish authorities agreed to a meeting, but in a different format — on March 28 in Warsaw at the level of representatives of the governments of Poland and Ukraine.