Poland will not allow cheap Ukrainian food imports to ruin its agricultural sector, Deputy Prime Minister Jaroslaw Kaczynski assured farmers on Friday
WARSAW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 28th July, 2023) Poland will not allow cheap Ukrainian food imports to ruin its agricultural sector, Deputy Prime Minister Jaroslaw Kaczynski assured farmers on Friday.
"We must be decisive about our interests. We cannot allow the Polish agriculture to be ruined. It is what we cannot sacrifice and our Ukrainian friends should know this," he told Polskie Radio.
Kaczynski said Poland remained committed to protecting Ukraine's core interests, including its NATO membership bid, but argued that Kiev should likewise respect Warsaw's interests.
Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said last week that his government would keep the ban on Ukrainian grain imports in place even if the European Union did not extend it past September 15.
The European Commission opened floodgates last year to duty-free Ukrainian agri-food imports, such as grain, oilseed, eggs, poultry, apples and more. The imports undercut food prices in neighboring EU countries, threatening livelihoods of local farmers.
Poland, a staunch ally of Ukraine, alongside Slovakia, Bulgaria, Romania and Hungary forced the Commission to impose a ban on Ukrainian imports of wheat, corn, sunflower seeds and rapeseed in May that will expire next month.
