In Poland, all Ukrainian grain in transit will be carefully checked.
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Today there will be clear instructions that we check all sealed grain that is exported, which is only transit grain,” said Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Food of Poland Michal Kolodziejczak.
According to him, when such grain reaches Germany and, after inspection, turns out to be of poor quality, “in 99 percent of cases it is returned to Poland as European grain.” He added that the same applies to grain testing at ports.
It is returning not to Ukraine, but to Poland,” he said.
Polish-Ukrainian relations deteriorated sharply due to the embargo on Ukrainian grain. On September 15, 2023, the European Commission (EC) decided not to extend restrictions on the import of four types of agricultural products from Ukraine to several EU border countries, but obliged Kyiv to introduce export control measures.
After this, the authorities of Slovakia, Hungary and Poland announced that they were continuing the ban unilaterally. In this regard, Ukraine filed a complaint with the WTO. For now, Ukrainian grain is allowed to be imported into Poland only for transit to third countries.
Let us recall that on February 12, Polish farmers blocked almost all checkpoints for trucks on the border with Ukraine, and on February 11 in Dorogusk, on the border with the Volyn region of Ukraine, farmers poured grain from three trucks traveling to Lithuania onto the road.
Our support for Ukraine in the war remains unchanged, but the interests of Polish farmers are important. The fact that several hundred or thousand people in Ukraine want to earn huge money is not our problem,” Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk commented on the latest news at the border.
He said that Poland wants to help Ukraine as a state, Ukrainians as a people in an armed confrontation with Russia.
Of course, our position here does not change in any way. But it cannot be that because of the war and our empathy and openness to Ukraine, someone will take advantage of this for unfair and unequal competition with our companies, our farmers,” said the Polish Prime Minister.
Tusk noted that if the discontent of Polish business is not taken into account, this could lead to “an increase in anti-Ukrainian sentiment,” and Ukraine’s behavior could “hack Europe’s enthusiasm for helping it.”
The paradox is that if Ukraine wants to be able to mobilize the entire Western world for its support in the confrontation with Russia, it needs to respect the interests of individual members of this community… Otherwise, it is easy to break this enthusiasm and desire to support, Tusk added.
Source: Racurs
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.