Expanding the scope of Polish farmers’ protests

Polish farmers, in protest against the import of agricultural products from Ukraine and the environmental measures of the European Union, created obstacles with their tractors across the country on Wednesday.

According to Al-Mayadin report, farmers have been closing border crossings with Ukraine since last month in protest of what they consider unfair competition. This week, they extended their protests to the border with Germany. Polish farmers blocked the roads leading to Warsaw and other major cities, including Krakow, Wroclaw, Poznań and Bydgoszcz, and declared that they would not give up until all their demands were met.

It is worth noting that the process of exporting Ukrainian agricultural products through the Black Sea has been hampered by the war in Ukraine since 2022. In this regard, in order to provide economic assistance to Kyiv, Brussels canceled customs duties on Ukrainian goods passing through the European Union.

However, due to logistical problems, a significant part of Ukrainian grain exports to third countries remained in Poland, which was a cost to domestic producers. On Tuesday and Wednesday night, EU countries and the European Parliament agreed to impose maximum limits on some duty-free imports of Ukrainian agricultural products such as eggs, chicken, sugar, oats, corn and honey to calm angry farmers. .

Closed borders and disputes over grain have strained relations between Warsaw and Kiev, although Poland has shown support for neighboring Ukraine since the start of the war. Nevertheless, Alexei Kosh, an expert at the United Analysis Center of Ukraine, said that Ukraine has completely surrendered to Poland in the fight for its economic interests. Young International Europe and America