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.”
‘GREAT OPPRTUNITY’: The Paraguayan president made the remarks following Donald Trump’s tapping of several figures with deep Latin America expertise for his Cabinet Paraguay President Santiago Pena called US president-elect Donald Trump’s incoming foreign policy team a “dream come true” as his nation stands to become more relevant in the next US administration. “It’s a great opportunity for us to advance very, very fast in the bilateral agenda on trade, security, rule of law and make Paraguay a much closer ally” to the US, Pena said in an interview in Washington ahead of Trump’s inauguration today. “One of the biggest challenges for Paraguay was that image of an island surrounded by land, a country that was isolated and not many people know about it,”
DIALOGUE: US president-elect Donald Trump on his Truth Social platform confirmed that he had spoken with Xi, saying ‘the call was a very good one’ for the US and China US president-elect Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) discussed Taiwan, trade, fentanyl and TikTok in a phone call on Friday, just days before Trump heads back to the White House with vows to impose tariffs and other measures on the US’ biggest rival. Despite that, Xi congratulated Trump on his second term and pushed for improved ties, the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs said. The call came the same day that the US Supreme Court backed a law banning TikTok unless it is sold by its China-based parent company. “We both attach great importance to interaction, hope for
‘FIGHT TO THE END’: Attacking a court is ‘unprecedented’ in South Korea and those involved would likely face jail time, a South Korean political pundit said Supporters of impeached South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol yesterday stormed a Seoul court after a judge extended the impeached leader’s detention over his ill-fated attempt to impose martial law. Tens of thousands of people had gathered outside the Seoul Western District Court on Saturday in a show of support for Yoon, who became South Korea’s first sitting head of state to be arrested in a dawn raid last week. After the court extended his detention on Saturday, the president’s supporters smashed windows and doors as they rushed inside the building. Hundreds of police officers charged into the court, arresting dozens and denouncing an
CYBERSCAM: Anne, an interior decorator with mental health problems, spent a year and a half believing she was communicating with Brad Pitt and lost US$855,259 A French woman who revealed on TV how she had lost her life savings to scammers posing as Brad Pitt has faced a wave of online harassment and mockery, leading the interview to be withdrawn on Tuesday. The woman, named as Anne, told the Seven to Eight program on the TF1 channel how she had believed she was in a romantic relationship with the Hollywood star, leading her to divorce her husband and transfer 830,000 euros (US$855,259). The scammers used fake social media and WhatsApp accounts, as well as artificial intelligence image-creating technology to send Anne selfies and other messages
RSS