We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. For more information see our Privacy Policy. Privacy Notice: Newsletters may contain info about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties. In such challenging times, it is crucial to coordinate and align all decisions within the EU.” skip past newsletter promotion The European Commission’s spokesperson for trade and agriculture said trade policy was an EU-exclusive competence and unilateral actions “are not acceptable. Nagy said Hungary and Poland – which are embroiled in long-running conflicts with Brussels over judicial independence, press freedom and LGBTQ+ rights, and have had EU funds withheld – were acting “in the absence of meaningful EU measures”. Hungary’s agriculture minister, István Nagy, said later on Saturday that Budapest’s ban on imports from Ukraine of grain and oilseeds, as well as other farm products including fruits, vegetables, dairy, beef, pork and eggs, would last until 30 June. The country’s agriculture minister, Robert Telus, said the ban was necessary to “open the eyes of the EU to the fact that further decisions are needed that will allow products from Ukraine to go deep into Europe, and not stay in Poland”. The economic development minister, Waldemar Buda, confirmed on Sunday the ban was “full, including on transit through Poland”. “We will never leave farmers without help,” Poland’s prime minister, Mateusz Morawiecki, tweeted. Poland announced after an emergency cabinet meeting on Saturday afternoon that it was banning many agricultural imports from Ukraine, including those ultimately destined for other countries, until at least early July. Solsky said Ukrainian agricultural products shipped to and through Poland represented about 10% of the country’s total food exports – a vital sector of its war-ravaged economy – with Hungary accounting for a further 6%. “The first step … should be the opening of transit, because it is quite important and it is the thing that should be done unconditionally, and after that we will talk about other things,” he said. Ukrainian grain should at least be allowed to transit through Poland, Ukraine’s agriculture minister, Mykola Solsky, said on Monday as urgent talks to resolve the dispute between the two countries began in Warsaw. The resulting glut and price crash have hit local farmers hard and pose a pressing political problem, in particular for Poland’s governing nationalist Law and Justice (PiS) party, which has otherwise been one of Ukraine’s most trenchant supporters since the war began but relies on support from rural voters and faces a tight election this year. The official said low global prices and demand meant large quantities of Ukrainian grain in particular were staying in the bloc rather than being sold on, adding: “There is an issue … we’ll see what we can do in the coming weeks and months.”Īfter Russia’s invasion of Ukraine last year, some Black Sea ports were blocked and Ukrainian grain – which is significantly cheaper than that produced in the EU – ended up staying in central Europe mainly because of logistical bottlenecks.
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