Tusk urged protesters to stop blockade of the border with Ukraine

The Polish authorities cannot allow traffic to be blocked at the checkpoints in order not to harm Ukraine.

This was stated by Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, according to Polish Radio.

After the European Council summit, Tusk spoke about the difficult situation in which Ukraine is today as a result of the latest series of large-scale shelling. According to him, the near future could be decisive in the full-scale war.

"I would like to appeal to everyone in Poland, without exception, not to do anything that could harm Ukraine. We will have to make decisions that will protect the Polish border and border crossings," he said.

Tusk noted that the authorities cannot allow the crossings to be blocked, regardless of the reasoning behind the protests, as today "we cannot in any way harm Ukraine in a situation where the fate of the war is being decided".

In particular, he reminded that border crossings have been granted the status of critical infrastructure and added that the government is ready to provide further forms of assistance to those who have lost part of their income through no fault of their own.

"I am counting on reflection and rejection of this form of protest," Tusk said.

As a reminder, in recent months, Polish farmers have been blocking a number of border crossings on the border with Ukraine. They oppose the import of Ukrainian food, as it allegedly affects prices on the domestic market. Back in March, the farmers said they planned to end the blockades at the end of this month.

After talks between Kyiv, Warsaw, and the European Union (EU), Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal announced five steps to resolve the problem.

Meanwhile, farmers have resumed the blockade of two more checkpoints, namely: Korchova-Krakivets and Medyka-Shehyni.

Author – Anastasiya Glotova, 19/04/2024