Ambassador Zvarych: Polish farmers have no reason to escalate protests at border

This was stated by Ambassador of Ukraine to Poland Vasyl Zvarych in a commentary to Ukrinform, commenting on yesterday's decision of the Polish agrarian Solidarity party to block all checkpoints on the Polish-Ukrainian border starting from 20 February.

"I believe that Polish farmers have no reason to escalate their protests, as their voice is already heard throughout Europe and they are looking for ways to resolve the situation to take into account the interests of both Ukrainian and European farmers. We need to learn to live in a united Europe, as Ukraine's membership in the EU is inevitable," the diplomat stressed.

He stressed that Ukraine calls on the Polish side "not to aggravate the situation, to prevent aggressive actions at the border and to unblock the freight traffic between Ukraine and Poland and the whole of Europe".

"We are able to resolve all issues of concern to the parties in a constructive and civilised dialogue, in short, in a European way, especially as pre-accession talks between Ukraine and the EU will soon begin," the diplomat said.

He called the blockade and radical actions against Ukrainian goods "the path to our common defeat: both Ukrainian and Polish farmers will lose, and only Moscow will benefit from this."

"While Polish farmers are blocking the Ukrainian border, agricultural goods, including grain, are flowing freely to Europe from Russia. I believe that this is where we must join forces to prevent the aggressor country from enriching itself through the growth of its agricultural exports to Europe. Buying Russian goods means paying for Russia's war against Ukraine and the entire civilised world, including Poland," the Ukrainian ambassador to Poland said.

As reported, on 9 February, Polish farmers began blocking several checkpoints on the border with Ukraine. According to the strike organisers from the independent farmers' trade union Solidarity, the blocking of roads near the checkpoints will last until 10 March. On 20 February, they plan to completely block all checkpoints on the Polish-Ukrainian border.

The protesters claim that the "uncontrolled influx of goods from Ukraine after the opening of the EU border" is a problem for the profitability of agricultural production.

On 11 February, near the Dorohusk border crossing, protesters broke customs seals on three trucks travelling from Ukraine, causing grain to partially spill onto the road. It is estimated that about a tonne of grain spilled from each truck.

The District Prosecutor's Office in Chełm began an investigation into the incident.

The Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development of Poland, Czesław Sekerski, apologised for the Ukrainian grain spilled by farmers on the border.