Hungarian truckers to hold protest on border with Ukraine
3 Min Read
After Poland, whose truckers blocked checkpoints on the border with Ukraine last month to protest what they claimed is the Polish government's inaction over the loss of business to foreign firms, Hungary now follows suit.
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Ukrainian truck drivers wait to cross from Poland back into Ukraine in Korczowa, Poland, on Thursday, December 7, 2023. (AP)
Hungarian Road Transport Association (MKFE) Secretary General Tivadar Arvay confirmed on Saturday that protests by Hungarian truckers on the border with Ukraine will kick off on Monday because Ukrainian truckers are ruining Hungarian logistics companies.
As quoted by Hungarian news agency MTI, Arvay said, "Due to the appearance of Ukrainian carriers on the EU market, several hundred Hungarian enterprises were on the verge of bankruptcy... Poles and Slovaks are talking about this, but the same thing is behind the Hungarian protests that will start on Monday".
According to Arvay, the mileage of Ukrainian trucks in Hungary soared by 30%, as opposed to the distance traveled by the Hungarian trucks which plunged by 4%, as he noted that Ukrainian trucks are coming from a different economic and legal environment which means costs differ, not to mention that they are exempt from EU rules.
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"We asked the European Union - last week there was a meeting of the transport commission... to reconsider its agreement with Ukraine and take into account the interests of EU member states, including transport companies in Hungary," he added.
This comes after Hungary's Foreign Minister, Peter Szijjarto, put Kiev's true intentions of reinstating the grain deal into question back in September, saying the country wants to flood central European markets with its grain.
Following suit
Hungary has played the role of a transit country for Ukrainian grain, however, the country, like other neighbors, complains that Ukraine is flooding its markets with its genetically modified grain, affecting domestic produce. The Hungarian Foreign Minister told Sputnik that Ukraine seeks to "spread their grain on the market of the central European countries, and we have to protect our national interests."
Hungary seems to follow suit after Poland, whose truckers blocked checkpoints on the border with Ukraine last month to protest what they claimed is the Polish government's inaction over the loss of business to foreign firms.
Polish truckers expressed fury over the fact that Ukrainian truckers were exempt from permits to cross the Polish border since February 2022, making services cheaper and more appealing to clients.
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The protesters in turn requested the reinstatement of restrictions on Ukrainian truckers entering, alongside a ban on Polish transport firms with capital from outside the EU.
