Dumping of Ukrainian grain at a Polish border crossing: Warsaw's apology

Czeslaw Siekierski, Poland's Minister of Agriculture, has apologized for the dumping of Ukrainian grain on the road by Polish farmers protesting at the border between the two countries. “

An act of desperation

 ” which angered Ukrainians. 

Polish farmers block the border with Ukraine on February 9, 2024 in Dorohusk. AFP - WOJTEK RADWANSKI

By: RFI Follow

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 “ 

On behalf of

Polish

farmers , I apologize for such an act of despair and ask for understanding for their extremely difficult situation

 ,” Minister Czeslaw Siekierski said in a statement, released on the evening of Monday, February 12. “ 

This is not the right form of protest, but it is often used by farmers in different countries

 ,” he continued regarding the incident that occurred on Sunday (February 11).

Indignation

Polish farmers who have been blocking several border crossing points with Ukraine since Friday

stopped

a truck carrying Ukrainian grain and dumped its cargo. They were protesting against what they perceive as unfair competition from their Ukrainian counterparts, who are not subject to heavy European regulations. This unprecedented action caused a wave of indignation in Ukraine, a country with a strong agricultural tradition that has been facing the Russian invasion for two years and where millions of people died in 1932 - 1933, during the Great Famine (

Holodomor

) organized by the Stalinist regime. Ukrainian authorities described the incident as “

 unacceptable 

” and demanded Warsaw “ 

punish 

” the perpetrators at a time when the national economy is being hit hard by the Russian invasion.

One of the largest grain exporters in the world, Ukraine has notably seen its agricultural sector transformed with a large part of agricultural land rendered unusable by the war and its exports via the Black Sea first entirely blocked, then partially restored. The Polish prosecutor's office announced on Monday that it had “

 opened an investigation 

” into the violation of customs security and the destruction of property, offenses punishable by a maximum penalty of five years in prison.

Always queues

Poland has been among Ukraine's biggest supporters since the Russian invasion in February 2022, but their relations have been poisoned in recent months by trade disputes. These new protests come a few weeks after the end of a similar blockade of the border by Polish truckers. This Tuesday, February 13 in the morning, Polish farmers maintained an almost total blockade for trucks at five border crossing points, said Ukrainian border guard spokesperson Andriï Demchenko, quoted by the Interfax-Ukraine agency. . “There are about 1,250 trucks in the queues,” he said.

(

With AFP

)

Also read: Anger of Polish farmers: Warsaw opens investigation after destruction of Ukrainian grain

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