On the morning of Saturday, November 23, Polish farmers started a strike near the Medyka-Shehyni border checkpoint.
The relevant information was disseminated by the RMF24 radio station portal.
The blockade began at 10 a.m. According to the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine, the action will last 48 hours with a possible extension.
Currently, there is no accumulation of trucks near the checkpoint for exit from Ukraine. There are about 150 trucks for entry into Ukraine.
According to the co-organizer of the blockade, which began on the morning of November 23, the farmers are protesting for two reasons.
The first, according to journalists, is the failure to meet the requirement to maintain the level of agricultural tax in 2024 at the level of 2023.
The second is "concern about the signing of a free trade agreement by the European Union with the South American countries of MERCOSUR (Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay).
"We want to put pressure on those in power so that this agreement does not take place," he said.
As journalists report, farmers have blocked national road 28. At the pedestrian crossing, near the railway overpass at the entrance to Medyka, they are not allowing trucks coming from Ukraine to pass.
On the other hand, trucks coming from Poland to Ukraine are only allowed to pass one per hour. Passenger cars, buses, and humanitarian vehicles are passing unhindered in both directions. The police say they will ensure passage on national roads 77 and 28, as well as routes within the city.
Regarding the farmers' demands, the spokesman for the Podkarpackie Voivodeship, Bartosz Gubernat, noted that regarding the preservation of the tax amount this year at the level of 2023, a corresponding bill is being prepared.
"Due to lack of funds in the state budget, the project was withdrawn from further procedure," he noted.
According to him, despite this, farmers who suffered from adverse weather events, such as hail or flooding, in farms whose losses amounted to more than 30% of the average annual crop production, could apply to the Agency for Restructuring and Modernization of Agriculture for assistance.
"It was equivalent to the amount of the third and fourth parts of the agricultural tax," Gubernat emphasized.
He also recalled that when it came to the EU free trade agreement with the MERCOSUR countries, Prime Minister Donald Tusk and the government "made it clear that this agreement would not be signed."
According to journalists, farmers say that if an agreement is not reached, they intend to protest around the clock until the end of the year.
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