After months of protests over cheap imports, Polish farmers have finally ended their blockade at the Ukraine border. The farmers had been protesting at the last border crossing with Ukraine, causing soured bilateral relations and disrupting trade with Ukraine.
The blockade began late last autumn when truckers in Poland started blocking the border, claiming that Ukraine was using wartime measures to gain market share. The farmers later joined the protests, expressing their frustration over the influx of cheap Ukrainian food imports.
On Monday morning, the Polish farmers lifted their blockade at the Rava-Ruska crossing, following months of diplomacy by Kyiv. Ukraine’s border guard spokesman confirmed that all directions at the border with Poland were now unblocked, allowing trucks to cross in both directions.
Ukraine’s Minister of agrarian policy and food praised Poland for their “constructive work” in resolving the issue. Despite the blockade being lifted, trucks carrying grain will still face checks on the Polish side, according to Kyiv officials.
Although Ukraine’s ambassador to Poland believes the blockades are now “a thing of the past”, a local farmers’ organization leader mentioned that protests could resume if necessary. The farmers are continuing talks with the government and are planning a protest in Warsaw on May 10.
To address the protesters’ demands, Poland has decided to pay $522 million in subsidies to farmers to compensate them for low grain prices. The protests had drawn criticism from Ukraine during the winter, with protesters spilling grain from trucks and train carriages.
Both Warsaw and Kyiv have been engaged in talks to find a solution to the issue, with Ukraine seeking EU intervention. Talks on Ukraine’s agricultural sector are expected to be a central issue during its negotiations to join the EU, as Ukraine is a major European grain producer.