On Tuesday, Slovakia’s border crossing with Ukraine was blocked by Ukrainian truckers in response to the ongoing dispute over permits for their trucks to enter the EU. However, the Slovakian truckers’ union distanced itself from the blockade, claiming it was carried out by only one truck. The union has been supporting its Polish counterparts in their efforts to limit the number of Ukrainian trucks entering the EU.

Truckers from Ukraine have been exempted from permits to cross the border since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022. This has had a significant impact on Polish and Slovak carriers, who are concerned about losing business due to increased competition. Miloslav Tokar of the Slovak border police stated that a single truck blocked the Vysna Nemecka crossing on Tuesday, citing the Slovak transport union UNAS. Union president Stanislav Skala told Reuters that they would wait for talks between EU, Polish, and Ukrainian officials before officially joining any blockades of their Polish colleagues.

Ukrainian customs announced on Telegram that “unknown persons blocked cargo traffic without any warning” but also stated that they had not received any official information from the Slovak side regarding this incident. They added that trucks would start being released at 8 p.m., with five an hour released each time. Last week, Ukrainian authorities announced that about 3,000 mostly Ukrainian trucks were stuck on the Polish side of the border due to ongoing negotiations about blockades on the border between Poland and Ukraine without any progress made yet.