Polish truckers end protest, unblock Belarus border crossing

May 13, BPN. Polish truckers who had blocked the exit to Belarus at the Kukuryki border crossing since May 9, ended their protest late on May 12, Eska radio station reported.

Protesters unblocked the border following the order from local authorities, said Beata Miszczuk, a police official from Biała Podlaska. The border crossing resumed normal operations, she added. However, about 1,100 Belarus-bound trucks are waiting in the line.

Polish truckers protested the takeover of the trucking market by Belarusian and Russian companies. Authorities should prohibit Belarusian and Russian semi-trailers from entering Poland, they said.

Reports do not mention whether protesters succeeded in achieving their goals.  

On March 23, Polish trucking companies called for a ban on the registration of Russian- and Belarusian-owned transport companies in Poland.

In April 2022, the EU banned the entry and transit of trucks operated by Russian and Belarusian transport companies as a part of the fifth package of sanctions against Russia over its war with Ukraine.

In response, Belarusian authorities banned EU-registered vehicles and heavy haulers from crossing the customs border of the Eurasian Economic Union into Belarus. The ban does not apply to vehicles passing through 14 border customs clearance checkpoints and “waiting zones” for cargo operations.

New problems with cargo traffic on the Polish-Belarusian border emerged in early February after Belarus sentenced journalist Andrej Pačobut, of the embattled Union of Poles, to eight years in prison on charges widely regarded as politically motivated. Poland closed the key Bobrowniki road checkpoint, and Belarus restricted traffic for Polish lorries and tractor trucks to the Polish section of the border.

Polish Interior Minister Mariusz Kamiński made the reopening of the checkpoint conditional on Pačobut’s release.