Polish farmers stage production blockade on border with Ukraine
February 20, 2024
Polish farmers gathered on Tuesday at the border with Ukraine, blocking the crossing and spilling grain on the tracks in protest against the import of Ukrainian products.
Farmers argue that cheaper Ukrainian products constitute unfair competition on the Polish market.
Farmers blocked around 100 roads leading to the border with Ukraine and forcibly opened two Ukrainian wagons at the Medyka crossing.
“A small amount of grain was discovered spilled on the tracks,” a local police official in Medyka told French news agency AFP.
Protesting farmers also drove their tractors through Gdansk, Krakow and other cities.
“I am here to get rid of the restrictions introduced by the European Union regarding fallow land, the Green Deal and, above all, to stop the entry of Ukrainian food,” said Tomasz Golak, who runs an animal and cereal farm in a village next. AFP.
“This year wheat is being sold at half the price of last year,” he added.
Elsewhere in Poland, farmers drove their tractors through Gdansk, Krakow and other cities, honking their horns in noisy protest.
Why Polish farmers oppose Ukrainian products
Polish roads have served as a lifeline for the export of Ukrainian cereals and products since Russia’s 2022 invasion disrupted key trade routes across the Black Sea.
However, Polish farmers have complained that Ukrainian products are produced cheaper, as they do not have to follow the conditions imposed by the EU, of which Poland is a member.
Last year, the bloc temporarily imposed restrictions on domestic sales of Ukrainian wheat, corn, rapeseed and sunflower seeds, allowing Poland, Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania and Slovakia to ban sales of the products.
After the ban expired last September, Poland, together with Hungary and Slovakia, extended the ban on grain imports from its war-torn neighbor.
In a statement condemning Tuesday’s protests and the subsequent attack on Ukrainian carriages, Ukraine’s state railway company stressed that it “strictly adheres” to the Polish ban on grain loads.
He added that all products at the border were controlled by Polish authorities, making it “impossible for Ukrainian cereals to enter the Polish market”.
Farmers, however, argue that Ukrainian grain transiting through the country could still leak into the domestic market.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy condemned the farmers’ protests in his Monday night speech as an “erosion of solidarity.”
Source: DW
Lori Barajas is an accomplished journalist, known for her insightful and thought-provoking writing on economy. She currently works as a writer at 247 news reel. With a passion for understanding the economy, Lori’s writing delves deep into the financial issues that matter most, providing readers with a unique perspective on current events.