Donald Tusk, elected prime minister by the country’s Sejm, promised to firmly defend the interests of his country in relations with Ukraine.
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On Monday evening, the Polish Sejm passed a vote of no confidence in the government of Mateusz Morawiecki. That same evening, by a majority vote, Tusk was elected as a candidate for the post of prime minister. President Andrzej Duda
promised to swear in Tusk’s government on Wednesday morning.
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“I want to say that the full participation of Poland in favor of Ukraine… cannot mean a lack of cordial assertiveness on the part of Ukraine when it comes to Polish interests, the interests of Polish entrepreneurs, farmers, drivers of the Polish state,” Tusk said, speaking in the Sejm with a keynote speech.
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He added that “it is not so difficult to be able to see two issues at once, the full participation of Poland and assistance” to Ukraine, “at the same time we will firmly, if necessary, defend Polish interests in relations with each neighbor.”
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About a month ago, 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 two Ukrainian drivers have already died in it.
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Recently, Polish-Ukrainian relations have become significantly more complicated due to the embargo on Ukrainian grain. Earlier, Deputy Minister of Economy and Trade of Ukraine Taras Kachka said that the country would introduce an embargo on some Polish agricultural products in response to the extension of the unilateral ban on the import of Ukrainian grain. Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki, in response to this, promised to expand the Polish list of products prohibited for import from Ukraine.
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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. Ukraine, in connection with this, filed a complaint with the WTO.
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In response, three EU countries announced that they would boycott meetings of the coordination platform on Ukrainian grain.
