Poland will not allow grain imports from Ukraine after September 15, as the interest of Polish farmers is more important to the country’s government than any EU rules on this issue, said Polish Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Robert Telusz.
“We know what could have happened if grain (from Ukraine) had arrived in Poland after September 15. Especially since the price of grain is currently low, and the granaries are already full. We know that this is in our interest and we will defend it. That is why I am going to Spain with this message to the summit of agriculture ministers,” the Polish publication farmer.pl quoted him as saying during the National Agricultural Exhibition in Czestochowa last Sunday.
Telusz informed the public that on Monday he will visit Spain, where he will convince the European Union to extend the ban on grain imports from Ukraine to the EU until the end of 2023 after September 15, together with representatives of other frontline countries – Hungary, Bulgaria, Slovakia, and Romania.
“When the war in Ukraine broke out, Polish society, including farmers, became the saviors of the Ukrainian cause. (…) Polish society became a lifesaver. Today in Brussels, we are loudly declaring: a dead rescuer is a bad rescuer. We will not allow the Polish farmer to lose because of arbitrary decisions of officials from Brussels,” said Deputy Minister of Agriculture Krzysztof Ciezora.
According to Janusz Kowalski, the State Secretary of the Ministry of Agriculture, the Polish government has supported Polish farmers to the tune of EUR 3.181 billion, while the amount of financial support from the European Commission is only EUR 63.614 million.
