After seeing what the protesting Polish farmers are doing at the border of Ukraine, a Lithuanian lost his temper – this is a gift to Putin

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“Ukraine has been fighting against aggressive Russia for the third year already. Although the battles are taking place in the eastern part of the country, the consequences are felt throughout the country, which of course cannot be otherwise. However, I want to share the impressions experienced not in the battle zone, but, it seems, in a rather peaceful part of Ukraine – in the Lviv region, on the border between Ukraine and Poland.

The fact that my trip coincided with the Polish farmers’ protests only made me realize how fragile the line is between friendly neighbors and indifferent cynics. As my father used to say, one of the greatest sins is despising bread, but someone who has not experienced hunger will not understand that. And the poured grain is the same bread. And bread collected during the war, often even in mined fields.

On February 23, I crossed the Ukrainian-Polish border post and probably immediately outside the Polish customs territory I was greeted by Polish tractors decorated with flags and slogans on banners. And the “blockers” themselves are sitting at a wide table, enjoying beer and obviously having a good time. There are smiles on their faces, suspicious looks in their eyes following my car.

On Sunday, February 25, the Lithuanian-Polish and Polish-German border was blocked by the same farmers, whose leader shared his plans in the press, calling the action “playful”, during which no transport will be missed.

I don’t know how “playful” the action was at the Ukrainian border, where I couldn’t enter Poland for exactly one and a half days. A day and a half without food, without the possibility to use the toilet, sleeping in the seat of a passenger car, which can hardly be called sleep. I started the engine every half hour to warm up, otherwise you won’t get much sleep.

During that day and a half, I tried to cross the border at three border posts: Rava-Ruska, Khrushiv and Uhryniv. None of these checkpoints (on the Ukrainian side) are really overcrowded with individuals traveling in their own cars and wanting to cross the border.

In the meantime, cargo cars start the queue some 15 and some 30 km from the border. And this is on both sides: both Ukrainian and Polish. No cargo transport, in this case I would like to note that not only transport possibly transporting grain, or possibly adapted for this purpose, but in general – no cargo transport could pass these three border posts in any direction. Even truck drivers complained that they had been waiting for the third day, they don’t know what, and most likely – the favor of Polish farmers.

Namely “grace”, because depending on the whims of farmers, for example, at the Ugryniv-Dolhobyczow post, one car was passed per hour. However, there were some reservations here too, their own nuances: if the tow trucks moved a little more at an hourly interval, then the lane with car transporters, cargo minibuses, and in between my car, in which the goods were declared, forcing me to drive along the “red” corridor, stood completely blocked .

The Ukrainian officials just shrugged their shoulders, the Polish border guards, when questioned many times, redirected the responsibility for this chaos to their own farmers, as if nothing depends on them.

Now I can confidently say that the Polish border guards “worked” in harmony with the protesting farmers, as did the police crews patrolling near each section blocked by the farmers. After a day and a half, leaving the Polish border post and passing by parked tractors and “playfully” protesting Polish farmers, I was not interested in anyone, no one stopped or checked me.

Maybe because my car is not a truck? maybe And what prevented you from passing that car without having to wait for an hour and a half, I don’t know what? I believe that clear instructions on how to perform the functions of the border guards and customs officers, so that their result will help the protesters to cause as much chaos, confusion and discontent among the people stuck at the border as possible. After all, the impact of completely blocked roads will certainly be greater than if only the truck drivers were inconvenienced.

When handing over the documents of the transit declaration, the Polish customs officer recommended not to show this document to the protesting farmers, in case of possible trouble. The question immediately arises: why should I show documents or transported cargo to anyone, except for officials who have the right to do so, and explain something about them?

And second: if I hear such recommendations from a Polish customs officer, an official, then who is the government in this country, who controls it – the tractor drivers? I think that this is also an attempt to rehabilitate myself as an officer: apparently, we are not guilty of anything here, we are even trying to help avoid unpleasantness in good faith, those behind the barricades are to blame.

It is very rightly said that these pickets, blockades and protests at the border, chaos and horror at the spilling of Ukrainian grain are a gift to Putin. Probably the neighboring Polish farmers think that the war will not touch them, are they that strong? God give, God give…. But normal neighbors don’t act like that,” Vytautas wrote.

This subjective opinion of the author does not necessarily coincide with the editor’s opinion: lrytas.lt is not responsible for the content of the reader.