Polish farmers are protesting Ukrainian grain and fruit imports to the E.U. and blocking border crossings in the process, creating tensions between Kyiv and Warsaw.

Chełm

Polish farmers have initiated protests against the import of Ukrainian grain and fruit into the European Union, effectively causing disruptions by blocking border crossings. This action has led to increased tensions between Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine, and Warsaw, the capital of Poland. The farmers are expressing their discontent with the influx of agricultural products from Ukraine, which they seem to view as a threat to their livelihoods.

The blockade of border crossings by these protesters not only signifies a direct challenge to the import of Ukrainian agricultural goods but also reflects deeper issues within the agricultural sectors of both countries. This situation could potentially affect trade relations and diplomatic ties between Poland and Ukraine, two neighboring countries that have historically shared a complex relationship.



Polish farmers blockade food shipments from Ukraine

The Medika-Shenyi border crossing between Poland and Ukraine. This is not the usual traffic. Nationwide farmers' protests in Poland have come to this. A blockade at the border. This Ukrainian driver has been stuck on the Polish side for more than two weeks. He can't get back into Ukraine. There is no room in the car. You're standing on the side, cooking, and now I'm going to wash the dishes. Farmers in Poland have been in revolt over low prices and bad conditions. They recently took their protest to the capital, Warsaw. Mateusz Dabrowski supports the protest. He is an apple farmer. Business is getting tougher, and a lot is at stake for his family. My father Marek and one of my brothers Tomek are with me. For many generations our family has been involved in fruit growing. It's been over a hundred years of fruit production as a family. Father, brothers, our wives, my in-laws, we all deal strictly with apple production. We produce over a thousand tons annually. We are a farming family. My grandfather was a fruit grower. My dad and all of us went into this production because we love working in the orchard and it brings us satisfaction. But I see that from an economic point of view, the situation is getting worse because production costs are very high and fruit prices are low. Fruit prices are at the level of 15 years ago. Production costs have increased over these years. Farmers say the European Union is responsible for the crisis because of environmental regulations and the open border policy for Ukraine. In Poland, the crisis is a challenge for the new pro-EU government, which says it'll do all it can to protect Polish farmers from unfair competition. It is a fact that half of the arable land in Ukraine belongs to agri-holdings. The largest agri-holding comprises of more than one million hectares of land. Such farms cannot be compared to any other farms in the European Union. What we see with the imports from Ukraine is that the stability may be slightly imbalanced. As a show of solidarity with Ukraine following Russia's invasion, the European Union agreed to allow goods from Ukraine to come into the bloc with little to no restrictions. But farmers in Poland say this support cannot come at the cost of their livelihoods.

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