WARSAW - Polish farmers protesting at the Dorohusk border crossing with Ukraine will let all trucks stuck there pass through as a gesture of goodwill, a protest leader told a Polish state news agency on March 13.

Farmers in Poland and across the European Union have been calling for changes to restrictions placed on them by the EU’s Green Deal plan to tackle climate change.

They also want the reimposition of customs duties on imports of agricultural products from Ukraine that were waived after Russia’s invasion in 2022.

“It’s a gesture from us to the Ukrainian drivers, so that they can go back to their families and their country, which is still in a difficult situation, in the middle of a war, having to stand up to Russia,” protest leader Wojciech Los told state news agency PAP.

However, he said this did not mean an end to the protests.

PAP reported that at 1200 GMT (8pm Singapore time) there would be a press conference at the Dorohusk crossing, after which it would be temporarily unblocked.

It was not immediately clear how long the crossing would remain unblocked. Farmers have been protesting at the border since February, following earlier disruptions by truckers.

Elsewhere, Polish farmers said they would block their country’s border crossing with Slovakia at Chyzne from March 15 until the end of the month, PAP reported. They plan to let one truck through per hour, according to the agency.

The farmers told the website Wp.pl on March 12 that this was because they had discovered that Ukrainian and Russian agricultural products were entering Poland via Slovakia, which is also an EU state.

Wp.pl reported that farmers planned to block two border crossings with Slovakia.

On March 9, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk pledged to reduce a grain surplus on the domestic market at talks with farmers, but union leaders said they would press on with their protests. REUTERS