They are allies in the war against Russia, but enemies at the table. Poland is one of Ukraine’s most unconditional military partners in its defense against the invader, but its veto of Ukrainian agricultural imports is causing a serious problem in the European Union and in bilateral relations. The Polish Government has closed its market to these products against the guidelines of the European Commission. kyiv reacted on Tuesday by announcing that it will ban the import into its territory of certain Polish vegetables and fruits.
Taras Kachka, Ukrainian Deputy Minister of Economy and Trade, confirmed to the Polish newspaper Rzeczpospolita that kyiv will prohibit the entry into its country of Polish onions, tomatoes, cabbages and apples in the coming days. “The main reason [de la decisión] is to demonstrate that Poland has no right to impose these measures. From the beginning we have disagreed with his veto,” Kachka said. “We must move forward with the correct decision, and this is the dialogue with the European Commission as the institution responsible for international trade.” Ukrainian Prime Minister Denis Shmihal also advanced in a statement on Tuesday that the restrictions could apply to Hungarian products.
Poland, Hungary and Slovakia are implementing bans on Ukrainian agricultural imports, despite the fact that the European Commission ordered the lifting of any restrictions on this trade from kyiv as of September 16. The authorities of the three European states argue that their agricultural sector cannot compete with Ukrainian prices. The Ukrainian government, Shmihal confirmed, has already filed a complaint against the three before the World Trade Organization. Shmihal also announced that his administration has initiated an investigation to determine “the hostile steps of these countries” in trade and the impact on their economy.
The European Commission approved in 2022, shortly after the start of the Russian invasion, a suspension of tariffs on most Ukrainian agricultural imports to the EU. Protests in five Eastern European countries – Poland, Hungary, Bulgaria, Romania and Slovakia – forced Brussels last May to impose restrictions on the import of wheat, corn, rapeseed and sunflower seeds into these EU Member States. . After this period, and with kyiv’s commitment to take measures to contain the impact of its exports in these five territories, the Commission confirmed that the limitations ended on September 16. Hungary, Poland and Slovakia have reimposed unilateral bans.
The Ukrainian ambassador, called for consultations
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Volodymyr Zelensky, president of Ukraine, criticized these countries on Tuesday during his speech at the United Nations General Assembly. “It is alarming to see how some of our friends in Europe play the role of solidarity at the political level, but make a soap opera about the grain issue,” Zelensky said. The president added that they seemed to be playing into Moscow’s hands. The Polish reaction has not been long in coming. The Ukrainian ambassador in Warsaw has been called for consultations by the Polish Foreign Ministry, while the Polish Prime Minister, Mateusz Morawiecki, has stressed that his Government has been the one that has made the most efforts to welcome refugees, in addition to being one of the main arms donors to Kiev.
The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry had already summoned the Polish ambassador on August 1 due to statements by the Secretary of State of the Polish presidency, Marcin Przydacz, who defended the veto on agricultural products and asked that the Ukrainian authorities “start to show a little gratitude for the help they have received from Poland.”
Jozef Hrabina, Slovak analyst at the security and political analysis group Geopolitics, explains to EL PAÍS that Ukrainian exports by road are “saturating the agricultural markets” of its neighboring countries, “seriously harming small and medium-sized companies with very low prices.” . Hrabina highlights that Kiev has the competitive advantage in prices of not complying with EU standards and regulations on quality and agricultural processes: “These countries want to help products be exported to other countries, but it is normal that they do not want to harm its own agricultural sector in the face of unequal competition.”
New route through the Black Sea
The blockade of the Black Sea by the Russian fleet has boosted road exports. This has worsened after Russia broke, last July, the agreement with the United Nations and Turkey to ensure a maritime corridor for the export of Ukrainian grain. kyiv is one of the largest grain producers in the world. The UN and Turkey managed to close an agreement with the two countries at war to export this raw material and thus alleviate the increase in the international price of essential products such as wheat. Moscow broke the pact in July, claiming that the lifting of US and EU sanctions against its agricultural exports was not guaranteed.
But Ukraine believes it has found an alternative. The first ship with its grain arrived this Wednesday in Romania on a new route to export this product from the country invaded by Russia. The ship Resilient Africa, loaded with 3,000 tons of wheat, arrived this Wednesday at the Romanian port of Mangalia without leaving Ukrainian territorial waters, without accessing international waters. From Romania, a NATO member state, the Resilient Africa will cross the Black Sea. The parties involved consider that Russian warships will not dare to sink a ship transporting grain leaving an Alliance country.
Russia is periodically punishing the port city of Izmail, at the mouth of the Danube, a river that delimits the border with Romania and through which part of the agricultural transport that cannot sail to the Bosphorus through the Black Sea is sailing. Ukrainian authorities reported this Wednesday that a cement cargo ship sailing from Turkey to Izmail had to be rescued after an explosion. The ship, the Seamaflying the Togo flag, allegedly hit an underwater mine, according to media such as CNN or Visegrád, although those responsible for Romanian maritime rescue have not yet wanted to confirm the causes of the shipwreck. The Romanian rescue services have saved the crew, consisting of 12 sailors, from the Romanian port of Sulina.
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