The agreement meets farmers' demands for financial compensation, but does not contain restrictions on Ukrainian imports.
Polish farmers have stopped blocking the Polish-Ukrainian border after reaching an agreement with Warsaw that met their demands, defusing a dispute that was the first test of Prime Minister Donald Tusk's new government.
Poland's newly appointed Agriculture Minister Czesław Siekierski signed an agreement with Polish farmers to block the Medyka-Szegyny border crossing with Ukraine on Saturday evening. The protest, which began more than a month ago, was called off on December 24 after an agreement with the government, but resumed on Wednesday due to farmers' distrust of the agreement.
Farmers have accused the new Polish government of failing to protect them from Ukrainian grain imports, but have also demanded a series of financial support measures. Saturday's deal finally implemented those financial demands, including launching subsidies for corn production, keeping agricultural taxes at the same level until 2023 and increasing soft loans for liquidity, but did not include restrictions on imports from Ukraine.
These measures “will be implemented after the completion of the legislative process and approval by the European Commission,” the Polish Ministry of Agriculture reported
Despite the lifting of the blockade, protesting farmers said their “most important” demand is to “restrict the flow of goods from Ukraine.” EU Agriculture Commissioner Janusz Wojciechowski told Polish media on Friday that he would demand restrictions on goods such as sugar, eggs and poultry from Ukraine in the EU.
“These imports are increasing in a way that threatens the competitiveness of the EU sector, including Polish poultry and sugar production,” he said. The Polish commissioner has already clashed with other members of the European Commission over full trade liberalization with Ukraine, which the EU executive is expected to recommend as early as next week.
“Ukraine is such a country that they just want to take, take, take and give nothing back,” told POLITICO by phone on Thursday, warning of the risks of the country joining the EU without restrictions.
Meanwhile, Polish truckers continue to protest as they want the government to end an agreement between the EU and Ukraine that liberalized road transport rules in an attempt to help the Ukrainian economy crippled by the Russian invasion.
At the heart of both groups’ narratives are doomsday scenarios about the impact on Poland of Ukraine one day becoming an EU member. At a summit in December, EU leaders agreed to start accession talks with Ukraine.
