After 3 hours, Ukrainians ended the hunger protest at the Korczowa-Krakovek border crossing

Ukrainian truck drivers, who started a hunger strike on 1 of the checkpoints at the border with Poland yesterday after threatening to kill hunger in little than 3 hours and suspend protest action – informed Ukrainian tv channel Suspilne ("Public") on his Telegram channel.

Earlier on Friday evening, the tv channel reported that Ukrainian truck drivers blocked at the border with Poland began a hunger strike, demanding an increase in the number of trucks passing through the checkpoint.

"Ukrainian drivers on the blocked border crossing of Korczów-Krakov suspended a hunger strike after negotiations with Polish strikers: it was agreed that the Polish side would let 7 trucks per hour, while humanitarian and military loads would be removed from the queue" - Suspine reported 2 and a half hours after the first publication.

Before that, drivers had demanded that more than 1.2 000 vehicles carry dangerous goods be put in a queue, which they thought should take precedence over crossing the border.

According to reports, drivers demanded that Polish strikers pass 14 trucks per hr alternatively of the previously announced limit of 1 vehicle during the same period.

A fewer weeks ago, Polish carriers, to which farmers later joined, blocked road checkpoints on the border with Ukraine. They request the restoration of the previously cancelled authorisation strategy for Ukrainian commercial carriers with exceptions to humanitarian aid and transportation for Ukrainian troops, suspension of licences for companies established in Ukraine after February 2022, their checks and separation of queues of empty and loaded vehicles. The queue of trucks on the Polish side reaches 50 kilometres and 2 Ukrainian drivers have already died in it.

On 15 September, the European Commission decided not to extend the restrictions to imports of 4 Ukrainian agricultural products to respective EU border countries, but obliged Kiev to introduce export control measures. The authorities of Slovakia, Hungary and Poland then announced that they were unilaterally extending the ban. Ukraine has lodged a complaint with the WTO. In response, 3 EU countries declared that they would boycott meetings of the coordination platform on Ukrainian grain.

Daniel Głogowski

Publicist, author and social activist. The first articles were published in 1999 for global publishers. For more than 30 years, he has gained his experience through cooperation with the largest editorial offices. In his articles, he sought to address controversial themes and present first viewpoints that allowed for a deeper knowing of the issues discussed. Over the years, he gained a reputation as a reliable journalist. Contact: [email protected]