Latvia urges Poland to find solution for faster border crossing in cooperation with Ukraine

RIGA - Poland needs to urgently find, in cooperation with Ukraine, a solution to increasing the speed of border crossing, Foreign Minister Krisjanis Karins (New Unity) said while meeting with Polish Foreign Minister Szymon Szynkowski vel Sek. 

As LETA was told at the Foreign Ministry, the Polish foreign minister had arrived in Latvia on a working visit on Thursday. The ministers discussed the difficult situation at the Polish-Ukrainian border, topics high on the European Union's agenda, and bilateral cooperation between Latvia and Poland.

Karins noted that the blockading of cargo transport at the Polish-Ukrainian border has been causing significant losses to the European Union's member states and Ukraine alike. The Polish foreign minister confirmed that efforts were being made to come up with a solution, and the situation would improve soon.

The ministers also discussed the need to launch EU accession negotiations with Ukraine and Moldova as soon as possible and the integration of the two countries into the EU.

Karins praised the close bilateral relations and active political dialogue between Latvia and Poland. The minister thanked Poland for its contribution to strengthening security in the region.

Poland is going to step up checks of Ukrainian trucks on the roads leading to the border, the Polish government informed on Wednesday. In this way, the government hopes to calm down the Polish truckers who are staging protests at the border. 

"These will be comprehensive inspections aimed at checking... all transport regulations that apply to Ukrainian carriers," Polish Infrastructure Minister Alvin Gajadhur said after meeting the truckers.

According to Gajadhur, the truckers said they would consider easing their protest were the technical and documentation inspections of the vehicles to "bring results".

Polish truckers have been blocking the major crossings with neighboring Ukraine for over three weeks now over what they call unfair competition from their Ukrainian counterparts.

Their demands include reinstating permits for the Ukrainian trucks to enter the European Union, scrapped by the bloc following Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Warsaw and Kyiv have been engaged in talks with the EU but the negotiations have failed to resolve the dispute.

As reported, the situation on the Ukrainian-Polish border may cause at least EUR 30 million loss in export turnover for the Latvian food industry, Inara Sure, chairwoman of the Latvian Federation of Food Companies (LPUF), told LETA. She explained that the blockade of the Ukrainian economy by Polish haulers has had a significant impact on the Latvian food industry. If the situation is not resolved, the Latvian food industry could lose EIUR 30 million within a month.