Polish farmers start blocking bus traffic
20 March 2024 15:29
At the Medyka-Shehyni checkpoint on the Ukrainian-Polish border, Polish protesters began blocking bus traffic. This was reported by the State Border Guard Service, Komersant ukrainskyi 
reports
The SBGS claims that, according to Polish border guards, the blockade at the checkpoint began at around 11:10. The protesters plan to let one bus through every two hours, both to enter and leave Ukraine.
It is not yet known how long they are going to block the buses.
Today, large-scale farmers’ protests are taking place across Poland. According to the police, they are taking place in 600 locations and involve more than 70,000 people. Farmers have taken large agricultural machinery onto the roads and left it there, making it virtually impossible for cars to move.
The farmers are protesting against the import of agricultural goods from Ukraine, as well as against the requirements of the European Green Deal.
Regarding the goods from Ukraine, farmers emphasise their low quality and non-compliance with EU requirements, Radio Liberty reports.
“As for the grain from Ukraine, Belarus and Russia, it is of such quality that it is only suitable for burning, not consuming. This is my opinion. I believe that imports should be banned completely. That is why we are standing here and hope that we will succeed.”
– the newspaper quoted one of the protesters as saying.
Border blockade and trade wars
on9 February 2024, Polish farmers launched a nationwide strike and a blockade of the border with Ukraine, which is scheduled to last until the end of April. The initiator was the independent farmers’ trade union Solidarity. The main demand of the protesters is to cancel the preferential trade regime with Ukraine and to return the permit system for importing goods into Poland. According to the Polish farmers, cheap and low-quality Ukrainian products have flooded Polish and European markets and are driving Polish producers out of them.
As part of the protest, Polish farmers block the movement of trucks at checkpoints on the Ukrainian-Polish border, and sometimes the movement of freight trains across the border. Several times, the protesters have poured Ukrainian grain directly onto the ground. The Polish government has hardly reacted to these actions, has not tried to unblock the routes and generally supports the protesters’ position. Poland has imposed an embargo on Ukrainian grain and threatens to impose an embargo on all Ukrainian agricultural products.
The preferential trade regime and its enemies
The decision to allow the free import of Ukrainian goods into the EU was made by the EU at the beginning of the full-scale Russian invasion as a gesture of support for the Ukrainian economy and in response to the Russian naval blockade of Ukrainian ports. Over the course of two years, the simplified regime has gained a lot of opponents in the EU. In particular, the governments of Bulgaria, Poland, Hungary, Romania and Slovakia are demanding restrictions on imports of Ukrainian products. They claim that cheap agricultural products from Ukraine are flooding their markets.
Six major European farmers’ associations have also strongly protested against Ukrainian products. Polish farmers have even staged a border blockade, not only with Ukraine but also with Germany.
Nevertheless, the European Commission prepared and the European Parliament adopted a decision on 13 March to extend the preferential regime for another year, until 5 June 2025. However, in the current version, the EU took into account all the requirements and made changes to it not in favour of Ukraine.
According to this decision, the European Commission may apply any measures it deems necessary if there are “significant disturbances” on the EU market or the markets of one or more EU countries due to Ukrainian imports. The agreement also provides for an emergency suspension of imports of particularly sensitive agricultural products. These products include poultry, eggs, sugar, honey, oats, corn, wheat, and cereals. If the imports of these products exceed the average volumes of 2022-2023, they will be subject to customs tariffs within 14 days. In this way, the EU is effectively returning import quotas for these Ukrainian goods, albeit at a high level.
Green Deal
TheEuropean Green Deal is another object of protest by Polish farmers. It is a set of measures aimed at achieving climate neutrality in the EU by 2050. Among other things, it provides for a number of restrictions and requirements for European farmers to reduce their negative impact on the environment. In particular, the Farm to Fork strategy aims to reduce the use of pesticides and fertilisers, while the biodiversity policy provides for restrictions on arable land in the EU. Polish farmers argue that these requirements do not apply to the cultivation of Ukrainian agricultural products, so Ukrainian producers are in an advantageous position compared to them.
