Polish farmers are resuming blocking the border with Ukraine at the Medyka checkpoint, Roman Kondrów, a representative of the Podkarpackie branch of the Deceived Village, told reporters.
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He explained that despite the fact that today farmers received a letter from the Minister of Agriculture that he agrees with their demands, they fear that the authorities are only playing for time.
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“We have not received any reliable assurances from the minister that our demands will be met, so we are returning to the border,” Kondruv said.
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Farmers had already blocked the border from November 16 to December 23. They primarily demanded the introduction of corn subsidies, a reduction in the agricultural tax and the renewal of 2 percent loans.
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In early November, Polish carriers, later joined by farmers, blocked road checkpoints on the border with Ukraine. They demand the restoration of the previously canceled permit system for Ukrainian commercial carriers with exceptions for humanitarian aid and supplies for Ukrainian troops, the suspension of licenses for companies created in Ukraine after February 2022, their inspection, and the separation of queues of empty and loaded vehicles. The line of trucks on the Polish side reaches 50 kilometers, and several Ukrainian drivers have already died in it.
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Polish-Ukrainian relations have become significantly more complicated due to the embargo on Ukrainian grain. On September 15, the European Commission decided not to extend restrictions on the import of four types of Ukrainian agricultural products into several EU border countries, but obliged Kyiv to introduce export control measures. After this, the authorities of Slovakia, Hungary and Poland announced that they were extending the ban unilaterally. In this regard, Ukraine filed a complaint with the WTO. In response, three EU countries announced that they would boycott meetings of the coordination platform on Ukrainian grain.
