Poland, one of Ukraine’s strongest supporters, on Wednesday called on the European Union to use all the tools at its disposal to limit the amount of Ukrainian grain entering the EU market, Reuters reported.

“We demand the use of all regulatory tools – quotas, tariffs, which will limit or block the import of Ukrainian grain to Poland,” Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said at a press conference on Wednesday.

His statement came in the context of the fact that large volumes of Ukrainian wheat entering the European market are a headache for the ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party in an election year.

The PiS voter base is mainly in rural areas and small towns, where the lowering of the price of wheat causes great dissatisfaction.

Moravetskyi also said on Wednesday that he had reached an agreement with the leaders of several countries bordering Ukraine to send a letter asking for action on the matter to Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission.

Ukraine, which was one of the world’s largest exporters of grain before the Russian invasion, blocked all Black Sea ports for months and had to find alternative routes to send its exports to destination countries.

But logistical problems have meant that Ukrainian wheat and other grains from Ukraine, which are cheaper than those produced in the EU, enter the markets of neighboring states in large quantities, affecting prices and the business of local farmers.

Fury in Poland because of Ukrainian grain

Morawiecki’s comments were made during a meeting between Minister of Agriculture Henryk Kowalczyk and representatives of Polish farmers, who have so far rejected the government’s proposed aid as insufficient.

“The money is to blame for every hectare of grain, the losses must be covered,” said Michal Kolodziejczak, founder of the Agrounia group, before the meeting with government officials.

He demanded compensation of at least 6 billion zlotys ($1.39 billion) to cover the damages.

“I will not leave until we find good solutions. They will have to take us out with the police,” he added.

The figure he cited is 10 times higher than the 600 million zloty program approved by the European Commission on Monday, which the Warsaw government says will help compensate farmers.

Agriculture Minister Kovalci was recently escorted by police to leave an agricultural fair in the city of Kielce after being attacked by a group of angry farmers. At another event, farmers threw eggs at him.

Poland has been one of Ukraine’s biggest supporters since the start of the war, putting a lot of pressure on its Western partners to supply Kiev with tanks and permission to send fighter jets.

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