Hungary has joined Poland’s veto on Ukrainian cereal and other agricultural products from the country invaded by Russia to protect its own farmers, thus opening a thorny front in Brussels. The current situation on the Polish and Hungarian agricultural markets is linked to the European Commission’s decision to lift tariffs on Ukrainian agricultural products for transit via Europe to other countries in Africa and the Middle East.
However, due to logistical reasons, the grain is piling up in Poland and is causing local prices to plummet, a situation that sparked protests from farmers and led to the resignation of Agriculture Minister Henryk Kowalczyk. His successor since last week, Robert Telus, will receive this Monday in Warsaw his Ukrainian counterpart, Mykola Solskyi, who aspires to a bilateral agreement to reopen transit.
Poland is one of Ukraine’s staunchest allies in the defensive war that this country has been waging against Russia for more than a year, but the government of Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki’s ultra-conservative Law and Justice (PiS) party faces elections this fall, and the countryside is one of his electoral strongholds. The veto of Hungary, whose farmers are also affected as a border country with Ukraine, also has to do with the lukewarm position of the ultra-conservative Viktor Orbán in condemning Russia.
The traditional export route for Ukrainian grain through the Black Sea, which was blocked by the Russian invasion and partially reopened thanks to the agreement promoted by the UN and Turkey in July last year, still works but is heavily affected. In any case, around three million tons of grain leaves Ukraine every month through the Black Sea.
According to the Ukrainian Ministry, only up to 200,000 tons are moved to European ports through Polish territory. Altogether, Ukrainian Minister Solskyi said, between 500,000 and 700,000 tons of various products, such as grains, vegetable oil, sugar, eggs, meat and other products, are exported each month across the Ukrainian-Polish border.
The new Polish regulation in this regard, in force from Saturday and valid until June 30, prohibits the importation not only of cereal, but also of other foods such as fruits and vegetables, meat, dairy products, eggs, honey and alcohol of agricultural origin. . Hungary’s Agriculture Minister István Nagy announced on Sunday that the temporary ban, also until June 30, includes grain, oilseeds and other agricultural products from Ukraine, saying the measure is necessary “in the absence of meaningful measures.” of the European Union”.
The European Union this weekend criticized the veto of Poland and Hungary, saying that “unilateral actions” are unacceptable and a possible violation of community trade policy. Last month, Poland and four other Eastern European countries bordering Ukraine wrote a letter to the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, demanding financial support for farmers, and measures such as buying surplus grain for humanitarian aid or even restrict imports from Ukraine.
“We understand this tough competition, which is a consequence of the blockade of Ukrainian ports. But it is clear to the whole world and to everyone in the world that it is the Ukrainian farmer who is in the most difficult situation. And we ask the Polish side to take this into account,†the Ukrainian Minister of Agriculture said over the weekend.
