"Polish freight forwarders have launched a protest action, blocking the movement of freight vehicles at several border crossings with Ukraine. The organisers of the protest are demanding the abolition of the European Union’s (EU) preferential treatment for Ukrainian forwarders," explained a statement.
"Long queues have formed both to enter Ukraine and to return from Ukraine to the European Union. On the Ukrainian side, an average of 1,500 trucks are waiting to cross the border. Some forwarders are waiting two weeks to cross the border.
"The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is currently seeking solutions in negotiations with Poland to mitigate the losses caused to Latvian companies by the blockade. The Ambassador of Latvia to Poland, in close coordination with the Ambassadors of the Baltic states, is maintaining a dialogue with the responsible Polish authorities. The European Commission is aware of the situation and is organising talks with representatives of Poland, Slovakia and Ukraine to find solutions and end the blockade.
"When planning freight transport to and from Ukraine, please take the situation on the Polish-Ukrainian border as well as at certain points on the Slovak-Ukrainian border into account, and allow extra time for crossing the border. We also invite you to consider the possibility of using border crossing points of other EU Member States with Ukraine, while being aware of the geographical and capacity aspects of the border crossing points," the statement concludes.
