Slovak truckers restart protest at Ukraine's border, Kyiv says

Hungarian truckers also planned to start a protest on a Hungary-Ukraine border crossing on Monday. The main demand of hauliers is to stop Ukrainian truckers from having permit-free access to the European Union, something that Kyiv and Brussels say is not negotiable.

Slovak truckers resumed a partial blockade of the country's sole freight road crossing with Ukraine on Monday afternoon, the Ukrainian border service said.

Slovak and Polish truckers have been demanding restrictions on access by Ukrainian trucking firms to the European Union that were removed after Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022. The Ukrainian border service said on Telegram it received information from the Slovak side at 4:10 p.m. (0210 GMT) that the protesters were stopping lorries travelling from Ukraine to Slovakia.

The Slovak hauliers' association, UNAS, said it planned to renew the protest at the Vysne Nemecke/Uzhhorod crossing, but would not stop non-commercial traffic. In Poland, truckers have been blocking four crossings since Nov. 6, though Kyiv said one of them was open on Monday. Hungarian truckers also planned to start a protest on a Hungary-Ukraine border crossing on Monday.

The main demand of hauliers is to stop Ukrainian truckers from having permit-free access to the European Union, something that Kyiv and Brussels say is not negotiable. Charities and non-governmental organisations supplying military aid to Ukraine face delays of several weeks to critical supplies of drones, electronics and pickup trucks because of the border protests, three industry sources told Reuters.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)