Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki announced on Tuesday that the government in Warsaw will not lift the ban on the import of Ukrainian grain on Friday, as planned, because it would affect Polish farmers, the Associated Press reported, citing Agerpres.

“Poland will not allow grain from Ukraine to flood us,” wrote Mateusz Morawiecki in a message on the social media platform X, formerly Twitter.

“Regardless of the decision of officials in Brussels, we will not open our borders,” warned Moravetskyi, who is at the center of an intense campaign for the parliamentary elections on October 15.

In May, the European Union allowed Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Slovakia to ban domestic sales of wheat, corn, canola and sunflower seeds, while allowing transit of these goods for export to other countries.

That ban ends on September 15 after the EU extended it for the entire summer.

Moravetskyi’s statements were made shortly before the government meeting at which this issue will be considered. And the European Parliament is discussing the situation with the import of Ukrainian grain. European Commissioner for Agriculture Janusz Wojciechowski assured on Tuesday that he is making efforts to extend the ban.

Wojciechowski is the former Minister of Agriculture of Poland.

What Zelensky said in Bucharest about the export of Ukrainian grain

The Polish prime minister’s comments also came less than a week after President Volodymyr Zelenskyi’s sharp intervention at the Three Seas Initiative summit in Bucharest.

“Ukraine is now grateful to you, your countries, for your help. We are together, we have a common goal, together we have freedom. Why, when Ukrainian ports are burning every night, should we be afraid that our coastal logistics will stop? Ukraine is categorically against further restrictions on the export of our grain, we see that many European countries are processing our agricultural products and making money from logistics,” he said during a video conference last Wednesday.

“We need these products and we must be able to export them, because we need these funds, we see that companies from different countries are making money from this transit. For us, this is a matter of survival in the conditions of Russian terror,” Zelenskyy explained.

“Please do not turn Ukraine into an economic or political target. I personally appeal to the leaders of Bulgaria, Slovakia, Hungary and Moldova and to those on whom the freedom of agricultural exports depends, please consider that any form of ban on Ukrainian exports will only increase the suffering and destruction caused by Russian aggression “, – urged the Kyivan leader.

He also noted that, if necessary, Ukraine will address this issue to international courts.

Polish farmers categorically oppose any concessions to Ukraine

Some leaders of Polish farming groups are due to take part in the debate in the European Parliament, including Michal Kolodziejczak, the opposition candidate in the October 15 election.

To help Ukraine after Russia’s war against the country last February, the EU suspended tariffs and other trade protection measures on Ukrainian imports, including grain and other food products.

During this time, large volumes of Ukrainian grain that would have transited to Eastern European states only through the “solidarity corridors” (created to help Ukraine export grain after it could no longer use its Black Sea seaports) remained in these countries, where they were sold below the prices that local producers can offer, and this is due to the fact that Ukrainian grain was not imposed by Brussels regarding compliance with European quality standards.

All this deformed the markets of Eastern European countries and caused losses to the farmers of these countries, which were only partially compensated by compensations approved by the European Commission.

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