Slovak Hauliers Unblock Border with Ukraine
The Association of Slovak Hauliers has stopped blocking the border between Slovakia and Ukraine, allowing trucks to move through the Vysne Nemecke-Uzhhorod checkpoint again, the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine reported on Facebook.
According to the Service, on December 4, in the evening, the Association of Slovak Hauliers stopped blocking the border, and now the vehicles are being cleared according to the established procedure.
Border guards report that due to the complicated traffic on the Polish border, the number of trucks using the border with Slovakia has increased.
According to Ukraine's Deputy Infrastructure Minister Serhiy Derkach, the Ukrainian government "continues to work with Slovak colleagues to prevent further protests".
He added that the Ministry for Communities, Territories and Infrastructure Development of Ukraine is doing "a lot of non-public work and communication with partners" to preserve the transport visa-free regime.
As of this morning, there are 625 trucks queued up in Slovakia to cross into Ukraine, according to the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine.
Earlier, the European Commission said it opposed the resumption of the permit system for Ukrainian truckers, as demanded by Polish and Slovak border blockers.
As The Gaze previously reported, the Association of Slovak Hauliers on 1 December in the afternoon, in violation of EU law, began the announced blockade of truck traffic at the Vysne Nemecke-Uzhhorod checkpoint.
"We are blocking the border because we want our Slovak carriers not to lose their jobs," the EBA explained its actions.
At the same time, they pledged not to interfere with the transport of humanitarian aid, other essential goods, live animals, fuel and refrigerated trucks. The protesters also pledged not to restrict the movement of cars and buses.
The Association announced an indefinite blockade of the checkpoint, starting from 1 December, with the same demands as the Polish border blockers.
This blockade has caused serious problems at the border on the Hungarian side. A 30-kilometre long queue of vehicles formed in Hungary.
At the same time, the blockade of Polish carriers has been going on since 6 November, with the key demand being to return the permit system for Ukrainian carriers.