Polish farmers from the Solidarity trade union have announced a general strike – including closing roads and crossing the border into Ukraine.
Ukraine’s borders may again be blocked by neighbors from EU countries. Polish farmers promise to block all border crossings with Ukraine from February 9. For what period has not been announced. On the same day, Hungarian farmers were preparing to protest at the Ukrainian border near the city of Zahony.
All because of the decision of the European Commission
Polish and Hungarian farmers are unhappy with the European Commission’s proposal to extend the suspension of import quotas and duties for Ukrainian exports to the EU for another year.
“Our patience has run out. The position of Brussels, expressed on the last day of January 2024, is unacceptable for our entire agricultural community. In addition, the passivity of the Polish authorities and declarations of cooperation with the European Commission and statements of compliance with all decisions of the European Commission on the import of agricultural products and food products from Ukraine we have no choice but to declare a general strike,” said the union of Polish in a statement.
The head of the Association of Hungarian Farmers’ Association (Magosz), István Jakab, said that they are also not satisfied with the European Commission’s plans to continue the suspension of import quotas and duties for Ukrainian exports to EU, because they will have to compete on products. , its production “should not take into account any EU requirements.”
The union said “farmers support the Hungarian government, which defends their interests against Brussels.”
Earlier, Hungarian Minister of Agriculture István Nagy said that the European Commission’s proposal to extend the preferential trade regime to Ukraine “does not offer any solutions” to the Ukrainian grain issue, so Hungary plans to maintain its national ban on the import of agricultural products. from Ukraine.
Important criteria for Ukraine
The EU’s preferential trade regime with Ukraine has been in effect since June 4, 2022 and has been extended to 2023. At the same time, due to farmers’ dissatisfaction, the EU has introduced temporary restrictions on certain types of agricultural products. agriculture for a few months in 2023, and individual countries, including Hungary, continued them even after their abolition at the EU level, unilaterally.
The current extension of the tariff-free and quota-free trade regime for Ukraine expires on June 5, 2024, for Moldova – on July 24, 2024.
The European Commission has officially proposed the extension of the suspension of import quotas and duties for Ukrainian exports to the EU for another year.
We agreed with the Romanians
Romanian Prime Minister Marcel Ciolaku and representatives of Romanian farmers and transporters signed an agreement on February 2 to end the protests amid similar actions in other European countries.
According to the agreement between the Romanian government and farmers, on February 5, under the prime minister of the country, an interdepartmental committee will be formed “to study and find the best solutions regarding the demands of the protesters .” The committee will include representatives of relevant Romanian ministries, as well as farmers and transporters.
“The purpose of the committee is to resolve the claims of farmers and transporters and develop concrete proposals to solve problems in the relevant economic sectors,” the Romanian government said in a press release.
Source: korrespondent
I am David Wyatt, a professional writer and journalist for Buna Times. I specialize in the world section of news coverage, where I bring to light stories and issues that affect us globally. As a graduate of Journalism, I have always had the passion to spread knowledge through writing.