The grain conflict between Ukraine and Poland has escalated further in recent days. Angry Polish farmers intensified their protest at the border with the neighboring country. The government in Warsaw now wants to better protect border crossings.
“We will include border crossings with Ukraine and certain road and rail routes in the list of critical infrastructure,” Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk announced in Warsaw on Thursday. This should happen within the next few hours.
The practical consequence of this will be that traffic at the border can flow without delays or obstacles, Tusk said. The protests of Polish farmers are aimed against the EU’s agricultural policy, but also against the import of cheap agricultural products from Ukraine.
Nationwide protests
On Tuesday, farmers blocked traffic intersections across the country and dumped grain from Ukrainian freight wagons at the Medyka border crossing.
Tusk sharply criticized the fact that anti-Ukrainian and pro-Russian slogans had appeared during the farmers’ protests. “We cannot allow those who actively serve Putin’s propaganda to exploit the peasant protests on the Ukrainian border. Such support for Putin’s story is high treason.” On Tuesday, during a demonstration in Silesia, a poster was hung on a tractor with the inscription: “Putin, clean up Ukraine, Brussels and our rulers.”
Tusk wants to reach a compromise
Poland is politically and militarily one of the closest allies of Ukraine, which is under attack by Russia. The EU and NATO country has received approximately one million refugees from there.
Tusk emphasized that his government took farmers’ concerns seriously and tried to find a compromise that would satisfy farmers. However, Tusk did not accept the offer of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who proposed government talks at one of the blocked border crossings on Wednesday.
‘Hard work’ instead of ‘symbolism’
At a technical level, these discussions were ongoing and no “symbolism” was needed. “We need concrete offers for our market and agriculture. It doesn’t require a declaration of goodwill, just hard work,” Tusk said. It remains the case that the next meeting with his Ukrainian counterpart Denys Shmyhal will take place on March 28.
Source: Krone
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