Polish Minister of Agriculture will talk to farmers blocking the border with Ukraine

Polish Minister of Agriculture Czeslaw Sekerski will meet with a group of farmers who are blocking the Medyka-Shehyni checkpoint on the border with Ukraine.

According to RMF24, Polish farmers voiced two reasons for the protest on the border with Ukraine. The first is the failure to fulfill the requirement to maintain the level of agricultural tax in 2024 at the level of 2023. The second is "concerns about the European Union signing a free trade agreement with the South American Mercosur countries (Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay, and Uruguay).

Sekerski has previously stated that his ministry is against the agreement with the Mercosur countries. He added that Poland, together with France, would block the admission to the EU market of products that do not meet safety standards. The minister also said that his ministry, together with the Ministry of Development and Technology, is currently preparing a position on this issue, which is to be adopted by the Council of Ministers on Tuesday. One of the organizers of the blockade, Roman Kondrov, said that negotiations with the minister could end the blockade if Sekersky has a concrete proposal for the farmers.

Currently, the farmers are blocking the pedestrian crossing around the clock, replacing each other every few hours. As of 9 a.m., 37 trucks were in line to enter Ukraine, and the line of cars was half a kilometer long. The blockade at the Medyka-Shehyni checkpoint began in the morning of November 23.

Earlier, Polish protesters blocked five checkpoints on the border with Ukraine. More than a thousand trucks were stuck in queues on the territory of Poland heading towards Ukraine. The blockade was caused by the European Commission's decision of January 31 to extend the abolition of duties on Ukrainian goods for another year. The blockers demanded the reinstatement of mandatory permits for Ukrainian carriers to travel to the EU and the abolition of electronic queues to leave Ukraine. One of the arguments of the blockers is that Ukrainians are taking jobs away from Polish carriers. Because they drive around Europe without a license.

To avoid crossing the Polish border, Ukraine developed a new export route across the Danube. The new route was designed to increase Ukrainian exports to the level they had been at the beginning of the war. And although many exporters preferred the Black Sea because of its low cost, the volumes through the Danube for Ukraine still amounted to 1.2-1.8 million tons per month.

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