An official visit by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to Warsaw on Wednesday led to a “mini” political crisis as Poland’s agriculture minister resigned the same day amid farmers’ anger over the impact of Ukrainian grain imports on prices.

Henryk Kawalczyk said he decided to leave due to the decision of the European Union to extend duty-free imports of Ukrainian grain until June 2024. Polish farmers called for the introduction of tariffs. “Since it is clear that the European Commission will not grant this request at the moment, I have taken the decision to resign as Minister of Agriculture,” Kowalczyk said.

Last year, the EU created solidarity pathways to ease grain exports from war-torn Ukraine, whose ports have been blocked. But huge flows of cheap Ukrainian grain ended up in the countries of Central Europe, which affected grain prices for local farmers, mainly in Poland, Romania and Bulgaria.

The prime ministers of five member states, including Poland, sent a letter to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen last Friday asking them to take action on imports of Ukrainian agricultural products.

The EU Council also recently approved a €56.3 million support package for Bulgarian, Polish and Romanian farmers affected by the massive influx of Ukrainian grain into the markets. The Polish Ministry of Agriculture has announced that it will add additional millions from the state budget, bringing the total amount earmarked for compensating producers to PLN 280 million (€59.6 million).

Inextricable ties despite the reaction of the farming world

Warsaw is one of Kyiv’s closest allies and has played a key role in persuading reluctant countries to supply Ukraine with heavy weapons. In this context, Polish President Andrzej Duda said yesterday that “in the future” his country could transfer to Ukraine all of its Soviet-made MiG-29 fighter jets. Poland has already delivered eight MiG-29s and will soon send six more to Kyiv.

At a press conference between the two leaders, Duda said that the delivery of all MiG-29s (about 30 in total) would depend on an “agreement between Poland’s allies” in NATO. He explained that a green light was needed from the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, since the MiG-29s that remain in his country’s possession have been adapted “to NATO standards”, mainly in terms of communications systems and their ability to perform reconnaissance flights. in NATO airspace.

Earlier, Duda awarded Zelensky with the Order of the White Eagle, Poland’s highest award.

“You supported us and we are grateful. I believe that these are historical relations, a historical result and a historical strength between our countries,” Zelensky said, receiving the award.

Duda was optimistic that Ukraine would come out victorious in the war with Russia. “We have no doubt that your leadership, combined with the heroism of the Ukrainian soldiers, saved Ukraine. We have no doubt that your leadership is saving Europe from the cataclysm of Russian imperialism,” he said.

Source: Reuters, Euractiv, Politico.