Crossing the border with Romania has become more difficult due to a nationwide customs strike

On June 17, all border crossing points on the border with Romania were temporarily suspended due to a warning strike by Romanian customs officers. The restrictions will last two hours and may cause delays for travelers and carriers.

This was reported by the press service of the Chernivtsi Customs Office.

According to the National Trade Union “Meridian,” which represents the interests of Romanian customs officers, the protest will take place from 12:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. and will involve all customs agencies in the country.

The union explained that the strike aims to draw the authorities’ attention to issues regarding working conditions and pay levels for customs employees. Representatives of the organization stated that they have been raising the issue of adequate support for staff for years, but these issues remain unresolved.

The union also apologized to citizens and businesses for any inconvenience, emphasizing that protecting the labor rights of customs service employees requires an immediate response from the government.

Due to the temporary suspension of operations at border crossing points, delays are possible when crossing the border, particularly for passengers and freight transport.

Also in June, the Moldovan customs service announced that the “Palanka–Mayaki–Udobne” border crossing had temporarily suspended operations for technical reasons. This road border crossing is one of the busiest routes on the Ukrainian-Moldovan border, as it is located on the M15 highway (Odesa–Reni).

This route connects the Odesa region with Moldova, Romania, and other EU countries. A distinctive feature of the “Palanka” checkpoint is that it operates under joint control: Ukrainian and Moldovan border guards and customs officers work together on Moldovan territory, which usually speeds up procedures; however, in the event of technical malfunctions on either side, operations at the entire checkpoint come to a complete standstill.

Анна Бальчінос