Truckers from Slovakia block checkpoint on border with Ukraine

MOSCOW. Dec 11 (Interfax) - The Slovak union of truckers, UNAS, has blocked the Vysne Nemecke-Uzhgorod crossing on the Slovak side of the border with Ukraine, Ukrainian media reported with reference to the Ukrainian State Border Service.

"This information came in from Slovak border guards at 16:10 [17:10 Moscow time]. Hauliers are restricting the movement of trucks traveling from Ukraine towards Slovakia. Trucks are not being prevented from leaving Slovakia," the service said on Telegram.

Currently, there are 1,263 trucks in the electronic queue for departure to Slovakia in front of the Uzhgorod checkpoint. There are no restrictions on passenger cars and buses.

In addition, the number of large vehicles accepted on the Hungarian side of the Chop-Zahony checkpoint on the border with Ukraine, has decreased, the Ukrainian State Customs Service said on Telegram.

"The number of large vehicles accepted by the Hungarian side has tended to decrease recently at the Chop-Zahony checkpoint on the Ukrainian-Hungarian border. This is primarily due to the lack of freight forwarding organizations at the Zahony checkpoint on the Hungarian side. There, T1 transit documents are processed for cargo that large vehicles bring into the EU through the s checkpoint," the service said.

Hungarian road transport association MKFE, which said earlier it would carry out a protest on Monday at the Zahony-Chop checkpoint on the border with Ukraine, said it was demanding the abolition of the agreement between Ukraine and the EU on "visa- free" transport, and the renewal of license quotas for Ukrainian-Hungarian transport, as well as effective and intensive official control over Ukrainian hauliers.

MKFE wants to draw the attention of the European Commission and the Hungarian government to severe, in their opinion, consequences of the agreement reached between the European Union, Ukraine and Moldova, which partially liberalizes road transport and puts many Hungarian businesses in a critical situation that undermines the market.

UNAS, which is also demanding the cancelation of the agreement between Ukraine and the EU, renewed its blockade of trucks through the Vysne Nemecke-Uzhgorod crossing from December "until further notice." Slovakian truckers began blocking the movement of trucks through the crossing on December 1. The blockade was suspended after a few days.

Polish truckers are making similar demands. They progressively blocked four checkpoints on the border between Ukraine and Poland in November. Queues on the Polish side stretched up to 40 km. The protest has seriously affected Ukraine's agricultural exports. The European Commission considers the situation on the Polish-Ukrainian border to be unacceptable. The Ukrainian authorities said on Monday that blockade of one of these four checkpoints had been lifted.