A row over Ukrainian grain. Andrzej Duda: We don’t need it, it is destroying the Polish market

– We don’t need it, it is destroying the Polish market – it has led to a collapse in the prices of agricultural produce in Poland and this is a situation that absolutely cannot repeat itself – said Andrzej Duda. He added that this situation was disastrous for Polish farmers and it was the duty of the Polish authorities to stop it at all costs.

At the beginning of May, the European Union introduced a ban on imports of grain from Ukraine to Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Slovakia. The restrictions were in force until September 15. A day later, a regulation of the Polish government came into force regarding an indefinite ban on the import of Ukrainian agricultural products to Poland. Ukraine appealed against this decision to the World Trade Organization.

Andrzej Duda also thanked the farmers for welcoming the Ukrainians and for showing them their hearts. – Let us remember about friendship with the Ukrainian nation, because this is the most important thing – we are friends with people. We gave our hearts and I hope that it will never be forgotten by people, the president emphasized. He also recalled that on Thursday Poland signed an agreement with the new UN public procurement agency. As an agency for transit countries, it is supposed to help, among other things, in the transit of Ukrainian grain.

The European Commission is organizing a meeting on Ukrainian grain, Poland sets a condition

The European Commission is organizing a meeting on Thursday as part of the grain platform. Poland sets a condition – Ukraine must first withdraw its complaint filed with the World Trade Organization (WTO). It concerns several months of consultations on excessive grain imports, conducted by the Commission with the participation of five frontline countries, i.e. Poland, Bulgaria, Romania, Slovakia and Hungary, as well as Ukraine. After Ukraine filed a complaint with the WTO, Warsaw announced that it would not participate in the platform so that Kiev would not use the information from this meeting.

Ukraine has sued Poland, Slovakia and Hungary for unilateral import bans after the Commission lifted the EU blockade on wheat, corn, sunflower and rapeseed a week ago. The European Commission expects all countries to be present at Thursday’s meeting. – We have had constructive talks this week and we look forward to continuing good cooperation, said Commission spokeswoman Miriam Garcia Ferrer. – The first step is for Ukraine to withdraw its complaint from the WTO – replies Poland’s ambassador to the EU, Andrzej Sadoś. In an interview with the Brussels correspondent of Polish Radio, Beata Płomecka, he pointed to process safety. The idea is to prevent Ukraine from using the platform meetings in a dispute before the World Trade Organization. More in the article below.