Poland and Ukraine hold emergency talks due to blockade of border crossings by Polish farmers
Kyiv • UNN
Polish and Ukrainian officials held emergency talks to resolve a dispute over the blocking of border crossings caused by Polish farmers' protests against food imports from Ukraine.
Poland's new coalition government has urged Ukraine to use the 21 February talks to offer new guarantees on food exports, which from the point of view of Polish agribusiness representatives are undermining the country's agriculture. The Ukrainian government pointed out that Polish protesters are showing signs of "uncontrollability" - Polish farmers are sabotaging food exports critical for Ukraine, which is confronting Russian aggression.
This was reported by the Financial Times, and UNN.
Details
According to the newspaper, the ministers of agriculture of Poland and Ukraine were to hold emergency talks on Wednesday over the blockade of border crossings with Ukraine by Polish farmers as part of a new dispute over grain imports.
Protesters at six road crossings blocked or disrupted the passage of about 7,000 trucks waiting to enter Poland from Ukraine and about 2,500 trying to travel in the opposite direction. The demonstrations also disrupted Ukrainian imports entering Poland by rail.
Agricultural protests reached a climax overnight when some Polish farmers threw Ukrainian grain off freight trains. In response, Ukraine's ambassador to Poland called on the Polish police to punish farmers involved in acts of sabotage against food exports, which are critical for a country that is resisting the invasion of Russian invaders.
Oleksiy Kubrakov, Ukraine's Minister of Infrastructure, accused the protesters of being "out of control.
Poland's new coalition government has called on Ukraine to use Wednesday's talks at an undisclosed location to offer new guarantees that its food exports will not undermine Polish agriculture.
Prime Minister Donald Tusk has offered full support for Ukraine's military efforts, but without compromising farmers and other domestic economic interests, the Financial Times reports. The article points out that Tusk's coalition includes politicians representing farmers. For example, Michal Kolodziejczak, who founded the Agrounia farmers' movement. The protests in which Agrounia participated prompted the former Polish government to impose a unilateral ban on imports of Ukrainian grain in April 2023, which violated the EU's common trade policy.
On Tuesday, Kolodziejczak said in an interview with Polsat TV that "we do not want to suppress the protests, we just want to solve the problem.
An interesting point: at one farmers' protest near Poland's border with the Czech Republic, a farmer hung a Soviet Union flag and a poster on his tractor asking for help from Russian President Vladimir Putin. Later, Poland's Interior Minister said that the pro-Russian protester would be prosecuted.
According to the Financial Times, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the demonstrations were "a blatant mockery" of Ukrainians trying to keep their economy afloat under Russian fire. In a situation of military confrontation with Russia, when commercial and cargo flights are suspended and its ports are blocked, it is the western borders that are important for Ukraine, for trade and travel.
Addendum
At the end of 2023, thousands of trucks were forced to queue at border crossings between the two countries due to a blockade by Polish truckers supported by farmers who complained of unfair competition from Ukrainian drivers. The Tusk government influenced the truckers to end their protest in January 2024.
Context
Polish farmers are seeking an end to duty-free food imports from Ukraine, as well as the lifting of EU restrictions on the use of pesticides and fertilizers related to climate change.
Brussels has agreed to impose limits on imports of Ukrainian poultry, meat, and sugar starting in June in response to farmers' protests that also took place in a dozen other EU countries.
From the point of view of the Ukrainian government, Poland's latest demands are unreasonable, as Ukraine has adhered to a previous agreement to verify that grain exports transit through Poland and do not fill its domestic market.
Recall
Blockade of the Polish border: Warsaw admits that Ukrainian grain does not remain in Poland. According to the deputy minister in charge of the Polish border, reports that Ukrainian grain remains in Poland despite the embargo have not been confirmed .
