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Polish farmers resume blockade of Ukraine border crossing

04.01.2024 15:15
Polish farmers on Thursday restarted their blockade of the Medyka checkpoint on the border with Ukraine, demanding subsidies for corn and that the rate of the farm tax not be raised. 
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Trucks queueing up at Polands Medyka checkpoint with Ukraine, after Polish farmers resumed their blockade of the crossing, on Thursday, January 4, 2024.
Trucks queueing up at Poland's Medyka checkpoint with Ukraine, after Polish farmers resumed their blockade of the crossing, on Thursday, January 4, 2024. PAP/Darek Delmanowicz

The protesters said they wanted to sign a written agreement with the government guaranteeing that their demands would be met, private broadcaster Polsat News reported.

On Christmas Eve, the farmers suspended their protest until January, after talks with Agriculture Minister Czesław Siekierski.

Protesters said at the time that they wanted a "written pledge" from Prime Minister Donald Tusk that the government would implement their demands, and that they would end the blockade if these demands were included in Poland's 2024 budget, according to news outlets.   

On Thursday, the farmers said they sought a "bilateral agreement" with the Cabinet, and then the protest "will be suspended until the demands are implemented," the Reuters news agency reported.

Meanwhile, Polish hauliers have been blocking several checkpoints with Ukraine since early November, demanding that the European Union reinstate permits for Ukrainian transport companies entering the bloc.

Tusk said in December he believed Poland was close to being able to end the hauliers' protest, the Reuters news agency reported.

Thursday is day 680 of Russia’s war on Ukraine.

Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, 2022, launching the largest military campaign in Europe since World War II.

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Source: Reuters, Polsat News, AFP 

Click on the audio player above for a report by Radio Poland's Michał Owczarek.