Poland will not let Ukrainian grain imports resume regardless of whether Brussels decides to prolong restrictions, Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki announced on social media on Tuesday.
EU import restrictions for certain Ukrainian agricultural products – wheat, maise, rapeseed, and sunflower seeds – are currently in place until 15 September, but even with this end date approaching, it remains unclear if and how restrictions will be extended.
“Poland will not allow Ukrainian grain to flood us. Whatever the decision of Brussels officials, we will not open our borders,” Morawiecki wrote on Tuesday on X.
His post was accompanied by a short TV spot in which he reiterated that Poland has been helping Ukrainian refugees since the first days of the Russian invasion. “When there was a need to help our neighbours, we opened our hearts and homes. Such are Poles,” he said.
At Tuesday’s meeting, the government decided that should the EU not prolong the partial embargo on Ukrainian agri-food products, otherwise Poland will re-introduce the unilateral measures to protect the Polish food market it first imposed in April, Morawiecki announced later in the day on X.
Morawiecki’s announcement comes as his ruling conservative Law and Justice (PiS) party is on its way to win a third consecutive term in the elections scheduled for 15 October. According to the newest poll by Ipsos Institute for OKO.press outlet and TOK FM, its support averages around 35%.
PiS competes for the votes of farmers and other people from rural areas with the opposition Civic Coalition (KO), led by former European Council president Donald Tusk, who has recently joined forces with the AgroUnia farmers’ movement-turned-party.
Poland’s opposition against resuming imports of Ukrainian products influenced the relations between Warsaw and Kyiv. According to media reports, the Ukrainian government banned the country’s lawmakers from visiting Poland, with some exceptions, until 15 September.
Meanwhile, AgroUnia’s head, Michał Kołodziejczak, travelled to Strasbourg on Tuesday to talk to the European Parliament President Roberta Metsola about the serious consequences of Ukrainian grain imports for Polish local production.
Kołodziejczak, whose joining Civic Coalition was one of the key topics of public debate in recent weeks, would also possibly meet European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, as learnt by RMF FM radio.
EU Agriculture Commissioner Janusz Wojciechowski believes the ban on imports of selected agricultural products from Ukraine should be prolonged and Ukraine should be helped in diversifying its agri-food transit, according to Polish Press Agency (PAP).
(Aleksandra Krzysztoszek | Euractiv.pl)
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