Poland and Hungary on Saturday banned imports of grain and other food from Ukraine to protect local farmers, officials from both countries said.
Ukraine’s grain exports have been transiting through the EU to other countries since the nation’s traditional Black Sea routes were blocked by Russia’s invasion.
However, because of logistical issues, the grain had been piling up and driving down prices, which led to protests from farmers and the resignation of Poland’s agriculture minister.
“Today the government decided on a regulation to ban the entry, imports of grain into Poland, as well as of dozens of other kinds of food,” said, Jaroslaw Kaczynski, leader of the governing Law and Justice party (PiS).
Otherwise “it would lead to a far-reaching crisis of Poland’s farming sector... We have to protect Polish agriculture,” he added.
Speaking at a PiS convention in the northern village of Lyse, Kaczynski said that Poland remains a staunch supporter of neighboring Ukraine.
“We remain, without even the slightest change, friends and allies of Ukraine,” he said.
In a similar announcement, Hungarian Minister of Agriculture Istvan Nagy wrote on Facebook that Hungary was banning imports of agricultural products from Ukraine.
Warsaw and Budapest said that their bans would last until June 30.
In Poland the ban would apply to imports of grain, sugar, meat, fruits and vegetables, milk, eggs and other food items.
A Hungarian agriculture ministry statement sent to the MTI news agency said that grain, oilseeds and several other agricultural products would be banned.
Responding to Poland’s announcement, the Ukrainian Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food said that it “regrets the decision.”
“Polish farmers are facing a difficult situation, but we emphasize that Ukrainian farmers are facing the most difficult situation” given the war, it said.
The Ukrainian ministry proposed for the two countries to come to a new agreement in the coming days that would satisfy both sides.
Polish government spokesman Piotr Muller told the PAP news agency that “we are open to other actions that could stabilize the situation.”
Budapest said in its statement that, during the ban period “the government expects a permanent solution and the adoption of EU measures.”
The Philippines yesterday said its coast guard would acquire 40 fast patrol craft from France, with plans to deploy some of them in disputed areas of the South China Sea. The deal is the “largest so far single purchase” in Manila’s ongoing effort to modernize its coast guard, with deliveries set to start in four years, Philippine Coast Guard Commandant Admiral Ronnie Gil Gavan told a news conference. He declined to provide specifications for the vessels, which Manila said would cost 25.8 billion pesos (US$440 million), to be funded by development aid from the French government. He said some of the vessels would
CARGO PLANE VECTOR: Officials said they believe that attacks involving incendiary devices on planes was the work of Russia’s military intelligence agency the GRU Western security officials suspect Russian intelligence was behind a plot to put incendiary devices in packages on cargo planes headed to North America, including one that caught fire at a courier hub in Germany and another that ignited in a warehouse in England. Poland last month said that it had arrested four people suspected to be linked to a foreign intelligence operation that carried out sabotage and was searching for two others. Lithuania’s prosecutor general Nida Grunskiene on Tuesday said that there were an unspecified number of people detained in several countries, offering no elaboration. The events come as Western officials say
Hundreds of thousands of Guyana citizens living at home and abroad would receive a payout of about US$478 each after the country announced it was distributing its “mind-boggling” oil wealth. The grant of 100,000 Guyanese dollars would be available to any citizen of the South American country aged 18 and older with a valid passport or identification card. Guyanese citizens who normally live abroad would be eligible, but must be in Guyana to collect the payment. The payout was originally planned as a 200,000 Guyanese dollar grant for each household in the country, but was reframed after concerns that some citizens, including
A plane bringing Israeli soccer supporters home from Amsterdam landed at Israel’s Ben Gurion airport on Friday after a night of violence that Israeli and Dutch officials condemned as “anti-Semitic.” Dutch police said 62 arrests were made in connection with the violence, which erupted after a UEFA Europa League soccer tie between Amsterdam club Ajax and Maccabi Tel Aviv. Israeli flag carrier El Al said it was sending six planes to the Netherlands to bring the fans home, after the first flight carrying evacuees landed on Friday afternoon, the Israeli Airports Authority said. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also ordered
RSS