2024-02-22 10:58:00
Polish farmers forming a convoy with tractors = 20th/Czarek Sokolowski/AP
2024.02.22 Thu posted at 19:58 JST
(CNN) Local farmers in Ukraine’s neighboring country Poland recently staged a protest by blocking a train carrying cheap Ukrainian grain and dumping the grain on the tracks.
In response, Ukraine’s Infrastructure Minister Kubrakov released a video showing demonstrators opening freight cars and allowing grain to fall onto the railroad tracks.
A group of Polish farmers has declared that the protests will continue for 30 days starting from the 9th of this month. Entry routes along the border with Ukraine have also been closed. Similar protests occurred in France, Italy, Spain, Romania, Greece, Germany and the Netherlands.
Since last year, farmers in Central and Eastern Europe have hardened their stance, saying that the influx of cheap Ukrainian grain is pushing down the prices of domestic products and hurting local farmers. The company has requested financial compensation from the European Commission, the European Union’s administrative enforcement agency, arguing that it cannot compete with grain produced in Ukraine in terms of price.
Ukraine is also known as one of Europe’s leading granaries due to its large production volume. However, the situation changed when Russia, which invaded the country, sealed off Black Sea ports and blocked grain exports.
In May last year, the European Commission was forced to create an export route known as the “Solidarity Route” to boost export activity as concerns regarding maintaining global food supplies grew. The commission also took steps to temporarily eliminate all taxes and quotas on exports of Ukrainian grain. As a result, cheap grain was shipped to Europe.
The European Commission also tentatively decided to extend duty-free and quota-free imports of Ukrainian grain until June 2024, following widespread protests from farmers across the region.
On the 21st, President Zelenskiy of Ukraine requested that Polish Prime Minister Tusk and President Duda hold a meeting on the border between the two countries to discuss issues related to the export of Ukrainian grain.
He noted that Ukraine would like to express its gratitude to all those who can distinguish between political manipulation and important national security issues. “We must not humiliate Ukrainian and Polish farmers. What we need is unity,” she said.
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