Poland: Farmers destroy grain from Ukraine over agricultural dispute

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Protests by Polish farmers at the Dorohusk border crossing

Photo: Wojtek Radwanski / AFP

Since the beginning of the Russian attack on Ukraine, Poland has been considered one of Kiev's most important allies - but since the middle of last year, discord has repeatedly emerged in the relationship between the two neighbors.

There is currently considerable anger in Ukraine over protesting Polish farmers who have dumped Ukrainian grain from trucks onto the ground at a border crossing. This is vile and shameful, wrote the mayor of the western Ukrainian metropolis of Lviv, Andriy Sadowyj, on Telegram on Monday. »Ukrainians literally water the fields where this grain grows with their blood. Harvesting wheat in a field where a war has taken place is like the work of a deminer." Sadowyj called the Polish farmers "pro-Russian provocateurs."

On Sunday, video footage from a Polish farmers' association made the rounds showing protesters opening the tailgates of three Ukrainian trucks, allowing some of the grain cargo to flow out. The incident occurred on Polish territory at the Dorohusk border crossing. The Ukrainian ambassador in Warsaw, Vasyl Swaritsch, called on the Polish authorities to intervene. The Polish police in the city of Chelm announced an investigation, as reported by the PAP agency.

Only three trucks per hour

Since last Friday, Polish farmers have been protesting across the country against EU agricultural policy, but also against the import of cheap agricultural products from Ukraine. According to Kiev, farmers again slowed down traffic at three border crossings on Monday. Depending on the crossing, they only let one to three trucks pass an hour, said Ukrainian border guard spokesman Andriy Demchenko. Cars, buses, smaller trucks and humanitarian goods were allowed to pass.

According to information, around 1,200 trucks are already queued up on the Polish side and want to go to Ukraine. In recent months, protesting farmers and trucking companies from Poland have made work at the border crossings more difficult.

beb/dpa