Now that their demands have been met, Polish farmers, who have blocked the border crossing into Ukraine since November, are withdrawing from the border. After long negotiations, Agriculture Minister Czeslaw Siekierski said he was ready to meet three key demands from farmers, including state subsidies for the purchase of corn.
In addition, the scope of liquidity loans will be expanded and the tax burden on farmers should remain at last year’s level. In return, the farmers want to suspend their border blockade indefinitely, so that the ministry has time to legally draft these regulations.
After a short break at Christmas, blockages again
The farmers started the blockade of the border crossing on November 23. After initial discussions with the Minister of Agriculture, the protests around Christmas and New Year were suspended. However, on January 4, farmers blocked the border crossing again. They accused the minister of not fulfilling his promises with concrete actions.
Since the Russian attack on Ukraine in February 2022, the country has hardly been able to use its Black Sea ports for exports around the world. Ukrainian agricultural products mainly come to Europe across national borders. The European Union allowed Bulgaria, Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Hungary to ban sales on the domestic market so as not to destroy prices. The EU regulations expired in September. Poland, Hungary and Slovakia subsequently introduced import bans on their own initiative.
Truck drivers are also protesting
Not only farmers, but also transport companies are concerned about cheap competition from Ukraine and have been hindering border traffic for months. The border crossings Dorohusk, Hrebenne and Korczowa are particularly affected here. On the Polish side there are always miles of truck traffic jams.
Source: Krone
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