Ukraine Says Polish Border Blockade a 'Security Threat'

Ukraine's infrastructure minister said Monday that Polish protestors blocking the countries' shared border posed a "direct threat to the security" of Ukraine.

Polish truckers and farmers have been trying to block Ukrainian cargo trucks from entering the country for weeks, protesting what they say is unfair competition from their war-torn neighbors.

"Blocking the border is a direct threat to the security of a defending country. Such actions have a negative impact on our confrontation with the common enemy called Russia," Infrastructure Minister Oleksandr Kubrakov said in a statement posted on Facebook.

He said six crossings were currently being blocked on the Polish side, with cargo traffic completely frozen at the Yagodyn-Dorogusk checkpoint.

A spokesman on the Polish side of the border said there was a queue of around 600 trucks waiting to leave Poland at the Dorohusk border crossing.

"The estimated waiting time for this number of trucks to leave is approximately 232 hours," Michal Derus, a spokesman for the tax administration chamber in Poland's Lublin told AFP.

He said more than two dozen trucks crossed the border to Ukraine at night, but "no truck entered Poland."

"According to the information we have, no truck entered Poland (from Ukraine). Therefore, it should be presumed that this is a complete blockade," he said.

Road traffic into EU member Poland has been an export lifeline for Ukrainian companies, particularly its agriculture sector after the Russian invasion complicated major trading routes through the Black Sea.

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These measures were "aimed at [ensuring] security in the areas adjacent to the threatened zones," said Poland’s Operational Command.

But the increase in shipments has angered Polish logistics companies and farmers, who say their Ukrainian rivals are undercutting them.

Farmers across Europe have also been protesting against EU agriculture policies, including environmental rules which they say hurt their interests.

"The blockade of the border will have severe consequences for our countries," Kubrakov warned Monday, saying it played into Russia's hands.

The situation is expected to intensify on Tuesday when Polish farmers are calling for a complete block on the border with Ukraine.

The row has dented relations between Kyiv and Warsaw – one of Ukraine's staunchest supporters since Russia invaded and where millions of Ukrainian refugees fled to at the start of the war.