STORY: Polish truckers agree to halt border protests
SHOOTING TIME: Jan. 16, 2024
DATELINE: Jan. 18, 2024
LENGTH: 0:02:55
LOCATION: Warsaw
CATEGORY: POLITICS

SHOTLIST:
1. various of officials and representatives
2. SOUNDBITE 1 (Polish): DARIUSZ KLIMCZAK, Minister of Infrastructure
3. various of officials and representatives
4. SOUNDBITE 2 (Polish): BARTOSZ JASINSKI, Representative of the Committee for the Defense of Carriers and Transport Employers
5. various of trucks passing by

STORYLINE:

Polish truckers have agreed to halt protests that have blocked several border crossings with Ukraine since November, the Polish government said on Tuesday.

Minister of Infrastructure Dariusz Klimczak said the government had signed an agreement with the protesters, which will lead to the suspension of protests until March 1 at three road border crossings: Korczowa, Hrebenne, and Dorohusk.

SOUNDBITE 1 (Polish): DARIUSZ KLIMCZAK, Minister of Infrastructure
"This protest is interdisciplinary, it covers many topics - international politics and domestic politics. The complexity of the issues meant that our talks lasted over a month. The protest will end on March 1. This does not mean the end of the dialogue. On the contrary, we are starting very intense, constructive talks that are intended to produce a specific effect - the implementation of the provisions we have negotiated."

Under the agreement, the Polish government has pledged to seek changes to European Union (EU) rules, secure EU funding for transport firms, and introduce stronger enforcement of controls on the Ukraine border.

Representatives of the transport industry emphasized that if the results prove unsatisfactory, protests will resume.

SOUNDBITE 2 (Polish): BARTOSZ JASINSKI, Representative of the Committee for the Defense of Carriers and Transport Employers
"We waited for over two months, we were at the barricades. An agreement was signed today and we are suspending the protest until March 1. We will monitor whether all points of the agreement are implemented, if not, we will return earlier. If they are satisfactory, we will end the protest in March. There is some success, maybe not what we expected, but we have something and we are suspending the protest until March 1."

Polish truck drivers started to block border crossings on Nov. 6, complaining that their business has been undercut by Ukrainian firms. They urged the EU to reinstate commercial permits for Ukrainian companies to operate in the bloc, which were waived soon after the outbreak of the conflict in Ukraine.

Xinhua News Agency correspondents reporting from Warsaw.
(XHTV)