In Medyka on the Polish border with Ukraine, farmers set up a container for themselves and decorated it. In front of it there is a nativity scene with Madonna and Christ child. Farmers are determined to celebrate Christmas at the border crossing. They are striking the entry and exit of trucks, which means the import of Ukrainian goods. Farmers complain that these would ruin prices in Poland.
It started at the largest Polish-Ukrainian border crossing in Dorohusk. Trucking companies have been protesting there since November 6th. They see their Ukrainian colleagues as competition that is damaging to their business and even threatening their existence. Farmers, in turn, fear cheap grain, sugar and corn deliveries from Ukraine. A total of four major border crossings are affected.
There will be no solution before Christmas
“The prime minister is not interested in us,” says Roman Kondrów, speaking for the entire “Betrayed Village” initiative. She wants to get compensation for the losses that have accumulated, as Kondrów says. The farmers are demanding compensation and future subsidies as well as an EU-wide regulation for goods from Ukraine that are not allowed to be sold in the EU. “The production there is based on completely different standards,” says Kondrów, who speaks very quickly, loudly and emphatically on the phone. “Other fungicides and herbicides are used in Ukraine, but we are not allowed to do that here.” This is also why EU goods are more expensive.
Farmer Roman Kondrów also wants to protest at the border in Medyka at Christmas. This would mean losses amounting to billions of złoty for farmers.
(Photo: Private)
Last Friday, two of the new state secretaries from the Ministry of Agriculture were at the border, but it was only the beginning of talks. The situation is similar in the case of truck drivers and freight forwarders. The responsible ministers from Kiev and Warsaw met on Thursday, and the new Polish infrastructure minister went to the demonstrators immediately after his swearing in – but there will be no solution before Christmas.
Thousands of trucks are now lined up on both sides of the border, with drivers waiting in their cabs for up to a week or even longer. The result is delivery difficulties in the industry and increased transport costs.
300 hospital beds have to go to Ukraine
Markus Schlickat can be reached on the phone at an aid collection point near Bitburg in the very west of Germany. “We have 300 hospital beds here that are supposed to go to Ukraine,” says Schlickat. After the Russian attack on Ukraine, he founded the aid organization MMS Humanitas in the Eifel, which now helps worldwide. Now there are simply no more drivers, says Schlickat. Because these wouldn’t come out of Ukraine at all. If you do find a transporter in Germany, it will be at prices that an aid organization cannot afford. Schlickat says prices have at least doubled, and in some cases even tripled.
Recently it even looked as if the Christmas packages that donors had packed and brought over wouldn’t arrive. Now a company from the Black Forest has come forward that wants to carry out the transport on its own. They won’t be able to do it until December 25th. “But they will be there for the Orthodox festival in January.”
Farmer Kondrów, more than 1,300 kilometers away in Medyka, assures us that aid deliveries and military equipment are being allowed through. But critics say that this is exactly what helps the Russians, who can now monitor even better what is coming into the country and how.
The spokesman for the drivers is a member of the right-wing extremists
In any case, there is also surprise on the German side about the demands of Polish drivers, which have been joined by associations from Slovakia, Hungary, the Czech Republic and Lithuania. Since the war, a German company says, hardly any EU freight forwarders have traveled to Ukraine anymore, simply for insurance reasons. For this reason alone, this business goes to drivers and cars registered in Ukraine.
The spokesman for the truck drivers is a member of the right-wing extremist party Konfederacja, which is also represented in the Sejm. A Konfederacja politician is now also campaigning for farmers. When asked about the disadvantages for Ukraine, the demonstrators emphasize that they support Ukraine and that is precisely why they want to be treated decently and fairly.
The daily newspaper Rzeczpospolita Haulage companies said back in the fall that they were simply defending themselves against Ukrainian oligarchs, against dumping prices and unfair treatment when exporting from Ukraine. Polish drivers would have to wait longer and also pay bribes to border officials, said the Kopipt organization Rzeczpospolita with. This week they announced that they would maintain the blockade in Dorohusk until March 8th.