2024-02-13 20:37:43
Poland’s agriculture minister has apologized for the actions of protesting Polish farmers who spilled Ukrainian grain on the border between the two countries. He described it as an act of desperation that angered Ukraine, reported France Press.
“On behalf of Polish farmers, I apologize for this display of desperation and ask you to understand their extremely difficult situation,” Minister Czeslaw Šekerski said last night. “This is not the right form of protest, but it is often used by farmers in different countries,” he added.
Polish farmers, who have been blocking several border crossings with Ukraine since Friday, stopped a truck with Ukrainian grain and dumped the cargo on the road. According to the minister, the farmers protested against unfair competition with their Ukrainian colleagues, who are not subject to heavy European regulations.
The unprecedented move sparked a wave of outrage in Ukraine, a country with a strong agricultural tradition that has struggled for the past two years against Russian invasion, and where millions of people died during the Famine (a mass famine in Soviet Ukraine in 1932-1933, organized by the Stalinist regime, note ed.).
The Ukrainian authorities described the case as unacceptable and demanded that Warsaw punish the perpetrators at a time when the country’s economy is badly affected by the Russian invasion, reports BTA.
One of the largest grain exporters, Ukraine, is transforming its agricultural sector after much of its arable land was left unusable by the war. At first, exports through the Black Sea were blocked, and later partially restored.
Polish prosecutors announced yesterday that they had opened an investigation into customs security violations and the destruction of goods, which are punishable by up to five years in prison.
Poland has been one of Ukraine’s biggest advocates against a Russian invasion in February 2022, but relations between the two countries have soured in recent months over trade disagreements.