Tensions between Ukraine and Central Europe over grain are rising. Kiev relies on its European neighbors to export its corn, wheat and even sunflowers to the rest of the world. Especially since Russia withdrew from the agreement on the export of Ukrainian grain to the Black Sea at the end of July.
Kiev’s neighbors have become indispensable for the transit of Ukrainian wheat, corn, rapeseed and sunflowers to Africa and the Middle East. Five neighboring countries received this from the European Union Ukrainian grain is no longer sold there, but is only transported there. This measure was lifted by Brussels on Friday September 15th, but Poland, Hungary and Slovakia have decided to maintain an embargo. So much so that Ukraine filed a complaint with the World Trade Organization on Monday.
For the Ukrainian government, the decision of Warsaw, Budapest and Bratislava to maintain their embargo against the Brussels Council is unacceptable. He therefore turned to the World Trade Organization. “These three countries have each decided to ban the import of certain Ukrainian agricultural products, despite the existence of a free trade agreement between Kiev and the European Union,” complained Taras Vissotskiy, Ukrainian Deputy Minister of Agriculture. I would like to remind you that these three countries, as members of the Union, are obliged to respect this agreement. They violated it, and that’s why Ukraine reacted like this. »
Poland unimpressed, bans extended
“It is crucial for us to establish that individual member states cannot ban the import of Ukrainian goods,” Economy Minister Yulia Svyrydenko said in a press release. Ukrainian exporters “continue to suffer significant losses” related to these bans, the minister argued, hoping to find a compromise before taking legal action at the WTO, which would “take a very long time.”
However, the mind does not seem to be in harmony. On Monday evening, Warsaw announced that it would maintain the embargo despite the referral to the WTO. “We stick to our position, we believe it is fair, it is also the result of an economic analysis and the powers arising from Community and international law,” Piotr Müller, the spokesman for the Polish government, explained in the Television Polsat News, adding that the WTO complaint “does not impress us.”
More than 10% of Ukrainian agricultural products are exported or transported through Poland, Hungary and Slovakia, the deputy minister assures. The damage to Ukraine is even greater because the problem does not only affect grain. Hungary announced an extension of restrictions to 24 products instead of four, followed by Poland, where the right-wing populist government declared it a “fundamental issue” a month before parliamentary elections. The same applies to Slovakia, which imposed an embargo until the end of the year, while Romania said it was ready to do the same for a period of a month if it did not receive the necessary guarantees from Kiev.
The key word for these countries: protect their farmers from competition. Bulgaria followed the European Commission’s decision and once again allowed the free import of Ukrainian grain. But farmers demonstrated this Monday to demand the return of restrictions so as not to cause a drop in prices on the local market, it is said.
Also read: The grain embargo continues to affect the dialogue between Poles and Ukrainians
(And with AFP)