British author curses Polish truckers

Thousands of trucks are jammed, aid shipments cannot get through - Polish truckers have been blocking the border with Ukraine for weeks. British journalist John Sweeney, who is suffering the consequences himself in a clinic in Kiev, accuses the Poles of doing "the Kremlin's work".

The award-winning British author and filmmaker John Sweeney has sharply criticized Polish truckers who are blocking the border with Ukraine. Following a knee operation, the journalist, who reports on the war in Ukraine, is currently in a hospital in Kiev and is not receiving an urgently needed splint for his leg because of the blockade, as he complains on X.

If this is happening to him, a relatively rich British foreigner, then it is happening to all sorts of people all over Ukraine. "It's not just me. It's a whole country being stifled in the fight against Russian fascism." The author of "Killer in the Kremlin" goes on to say: "F... you, you Polish truckers." He is after them. "Stop the blockade!"

Sweeney, who also made the film "Under deadly skies" about Russian air strikes against Ukraine, is particularly concerned about seriously injured Ukrainian soldiers who are now not receiving urgently needed medication or other things. "You are doing the Kremlin's work. You are disgustingly selfish," Sweeney said to the truckers. According to him, one of the organizers of the protests belongs to a far-right Polish party with close ties to the Kremlin. He does not say exactly who it is.

Polish transport companies have been blocking several important border crossings to Ukraine since the beginning of November. The freight forwarders are complaining of "unfair competition" from Ukrainian companies after the EU suspended a number of conditions for border transport due to the Russian attack. Freight traffic has therefore largely come to a standstill. Thousands of trucks are now jammed at the border in freezing temperatures, and two truck drivers died recently.

Committee on Eastern European Economic Relations concerned

Stefan Kägebein, Regional Director of the Committee on Eastern European Economic Relations, confirms that the blockade is having a massive impact on Ukraine. He told the Redaktionsnetzwerk Deutschland that some long-distance drivers were not at least allowing vehicles with relief supplies to pass. "Freight forwarders tell us that aid shipments from the EU to Ukraine are also affected, for example for medicines or technology to repair the Ukrainian energy system."

The blockade is also affecting many German companies. "Companies are telling us that delivery times have recently tripled and transportation costs have doubled or quadrupled. There are also reports of production interruptions due to a lack of goods and raw materials," said Kägebein. The damage is therefore in the millions.