WARSAW: Trucking representatives from Central Europe on Friday called on the EU to end a transport agreement with Ukraine that they said has led to unfair competition from the war-torn country.
The joint statement – signed by the presidents of Czech, Hungarian, Lithuanian, Polish and Slovak road transport associations – was addressed to their transport ministers and the European Commission.
The Central European hauliers want to reinstate the use of EU entry permits for Ukrainian trucks, a system waived by the bloc following Russia’s assault against Ukraine.
Practical implementation of the agreement that eased EU access rules is “harming the competitiveness of EU road transport operators”, they said.
“Hereby we ask and urge all decision makers involved to consider termination or significant changes to the current EU-Ukraine arrangement,” they added.
Trucking representatives in Poland have been protesting the issue for almost two weeks via blockades of major border crossings with Ukraine.
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The 12-day protest has caused huge queues on both sides of the border.
The truckers have met with representatives of the European Commission and the Ukrainian and Polish governments in a bid to solve the dispute.
However on Thursday Kyiv said the parties had failed to reach an agreement in the latest round of talks.
Kyiv has rejected the demand to renew the need for EU entry permits for Ukrainian hauliers.
It has said the protests harm both the Polish and Ukrainian economies.
