Angry Polish farmers stop cargo transportation at the Ukrainian border

– International News – Tasnim News Agency According to the “Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung” newspaper, Polish farmers continued their protests against European Union policies on Tuesday. And they almost stopped cargo transportation on the border with Ukraine. By doing this, they intensified their siege and protests that have been going on since the beginning of February in many places. According to Polish authorities, waiting times for trucks at the four main crossings to the neighboring country when leaving the country on Tuesday ranged from 100 to 270 hours.

A spokesman for the Solidarity farmers’ union told Reuters. : All border crossings will be completely blocked. Military aid will be allowed to pass, but the traffic of trucks and passengers will be blocked.

On Sunday, protesters also tried to prevent the entry of a passenger train from Kiev to Chelem in Poland. Protesters threw Ukrainian grain out of freight wagons at Medica border crossing. Polish Agriculture Minister Czeslaw Sikirski apologized to Kiev for the incident, but said it was understandable for farmers who are in a “difficult economic situation”.

On Tuesday, representatives of transport companies Ukrainians also said that from now on they will prevent the entry of Polish trucks. “Either everyone drives or none of them,” they declared. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has also commented on this situation. On Monday evening, he spoke of “a situation that shows the erosion of solidarity on a daily basis. He emphasized that the events at the Polish border are “not normal”. Currently, only five percent of Ukraine’s agricultural exports cross this border. “This is not a question of grain, but a question of politics,” he said.

This blockade is part of a nationwide demonstration by farmers, which took place across Poland on Tuesday, against tax-free imports of Ukrainian agricultural products. to the European Union, as well as against the “Green Deal” of the European Union and as a result of environmental developments. The agreement on the export of agricultural products is currently being negotiated with Ukraine. While the export of Polish agricultural products in general will increase by eight percent in 2023 found, Ukraine’s exports fell sharply due to the war.

Polish farmers opened Ukrainian freight wagons with grain at the Medica border crossing and blocked the tracks of this strategically important railway line.Video from the network Social media was broadcast on Ukrainian public television, showing farmers unloading grain from several freight wagons from the eastern neighbor and singing the Polish national anthem. Police cordoned off part of the area and asked the demonstrators to leave the route.

Ukrainian Railways confirmed the incident at the Polish border station in Medica. In total, there are about 40 Ukrainian wagons with agricultural goods at this station. Ukrainian Railways announced that Polish Railways and the Embassy of Ukraine in Poland were informed “about unauthorized interference in railway operations”. fm said: We farmers from all over Poland were the first to extend a hand of friendship and welcome our brothers from Ukraine, and now we are suffering from them. Various mafia organizations bring these grains to Poland. There is no other way to put it.”

Polish farmers also complain that the EU’s Green Deal imposes new conditions on them, while Ukrainian grain and other agricultural products are allowed to enter the market. which can be produced cheaper without these conditions.

Ukraine’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs asked Warsaw to stop these blockades and take action against “anti-Ukrainian” rhetoric. Oleh Nikolenko, the spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, wrote on Facebook: There is no justification for the blockade of the Polish-Ukraine border with any slogans.

end of message/