“The Black Sea is closed to Ukrainian exports. Ukraine and the world are once again on the brink of a global food crisis, and the Polish leadership says it will also close its borders to Ukrainian grain,” Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Olga Stefanyshina said on Twitter.
The representative of the Ukrainian government accused the Polish government of maintaining this decision for electoral reasons, as Poland should hold general elections at the end of this year.
“Democracy is when the government acts as an executive branch, not as a campaign headquarters,” Stefanyshina said, urging Ukraine’s partners to support the exports of its agricultural sector by allowing unfettered access for their products in the EU.
Poland, since the beginning of the Russian invasion, has been one of the countries that helped Ukraine the most militarily and politically. The controversy over Ukraine’s agricultural exports has been a recurring source of tension between the two allies in recent months.
The Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister also called for “a compensation mechanism for Ukrainian farmers who continue to work their fields and risk their lives.”
Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Schmygal made similar statements, calling Poland’s position “hostile and populist” and calling on the European Commission to guarantee free access for Ukrainian agricultural products to its common markets.
Poland, Romania, Hungary, Bulgaria and Slovakia oppose the entry of Ukrainian agricultural products because of the negative effects they felt in this sector.
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