Poland will continue to block Ukrainian grain whatever the EU commission decides (rmx.news)

submitted 1 year ago by Voyager@psychedelia.ink to c/worldnews@lemmy.ml

23 comments fedilink hide all child comments

Poland would not hesitate to issue an order to block the import of Ukrainian grain if the European Commission refused to extend the grain embargo on Ukraine, according to Polish Development Minister Waldemar Buda.

Currently, the European Commission has given the green light to five EU member states who have placed a grain embargo on Ukraine, but Buda said during an interview with public radio PR 24 that he feared the EU commission was likely to end the embargo.

Nevertheless, the Polish government indicates it cannot allow Ukrainian grain imports at a time when Polish farmers have just completed their harvest and need to sell their produce. The grain embargo on Ukrainian products containing wheat, corn, rapeseed, and sunflower imposed by Poland, Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania and Slovakia was agreed by the European Commission at the beginning of May. It was to last until June but was extended by the EU commission until Sept. 15.

all 24 comments

sorted by: hot top controversial new old

[-] zepheriths@lemmy.world 29 points 1 year ago

Why are they embargoing Ukraine? I would figure in the very least Poland could pass the grain to the next person, considering the massive shortage

[-] CanadaPlus@lemmy.sdf.org 23 points 1 year ago

It's pandering to local farmers for electoral support. Plus, it makes the EU mad which makes Duda look strong.

[-] eyes@lemmy.world 19 points 1 year ago

Less competition for their farmers/Shortages mean higher grain prices.

[-] paddirn@lemmy.world 6 points 1 year ago

So Poland and the EU are just as complicit as Russia in causing food shortages, to help farmers? Can’t they just transport it through their territory to get it somewhere else so it can at least make it out into the world, instead of getting destroyed at port by Russian attacks? I support Ukraine, but it seems like Europe and Russia are content to let Third world countries just deal with famine and starvation on their own.

[-] Ooops@kbin.social 16 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

To be fair here: Poland did not try to limit the amount of grain for higher prices. Quite the opposite: they directed the farmers to increase output. And just when they did as they were told, Polands leadership realized that they are a too corrupt pile of shit to follow regulations. And so instead of being only transported through the country Ukrainian grain (that in no way is fullfillig EU requirements and thus shouldn't even be allowed to be sold in Poland in the first place) is flooding the country and crashing the prize.

The farmers being angry is natural because their prize is of course reasonable (they produce to much higher standards to meet EU guidelines which costs money).

The joke here is the government who could either start prosecuting the corrupt guys at the top causing the illegal dumping of Ukraine grain into markets where existing standards should automatically restrict it... or they can ban Ukraine grain to pretend to protect their poor farmers (from their own corruption *cough* - oh, sorry. I meant from the evil EU trying to kill their market obviously...). And there are elections next month and that government is running on pure populism, propaganda and anti-EU/anti-Germany sentiments anyway (which for them is same as the EU is -as we all know- puppeteered by Germany in their attempt to build their 4th Reich - I'm paraphrasing actual comments from Polish officials here...). So it's to nobodys surprise which option they chose.

PS: As should have been obvious from my comment: No, it's never actually "Poland and the EU". It's always poor Poland vs. the EU. Polands biggest government party has exactly that one topic and needs a lot of mental gymnastics for their "of course we want to stay in the EU but the EU is trying to destroy our country at every step" rhetoric to kind of work...

[-] Johanno@feddit.de 2 points 1 year ago

I mean it's not completely wrong that Germany is one of the leading countries in the EU

[-] RangerAndTheCat@lemmy.world -2 points 1 year ago

I think it’s the “Fuck you, I got mind mentality” 🤷🏾

[-] deegeese@sopuli.xyz 6 points 1 year ago

These countries aren’t traditional through-shippers of grain.

European farmers want that grain exported to other continents instead of lowering local prices.

[-] Ooops@kbin.social 5 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

European farmers want that grain exported to other continents instead of lowering local prices.

Or in other words: European farmers want laws to be followed as they spend money to produce to EU standards and there is no way Ukrainian grain should be allowed to be sold for most applications anyway. Of course keeping corrupt shitheads at the top from violating regulations to dump Ukrainian grain into European markets is not an option for some countries... because those guys at the top do it with full knowledge of their government buddies.

[-] Aux@lemmy.world -2 points 1 year ago

Poland is Ukraine's friend only on paper. But when "friendship" starts to hurt their profits, they'll be the first to butter up Putin.

[-] Miernix@programming.dev 4 points 1 year ago

Grain is another matter, a controversial one, and unfortunately, also has to do with the elections. But you also have to understand the Polish farmers who make their living from these grain sales and suddenly their source of income has disappeared because the Polish market has been flooded with supplies from the east. I am not a supporter of this embargo, but I am aware that the issue is complex and that it cannot all be reduced to "Poland is Ukraine’s friend only on paper."

[-] Aux@lemmy.world -1 points 1 year ago

Yeah, grain is definitely a different matter, because food exports are a big part of the Ukrainian economy and this part was decimated by Putin. If they can't export their grain now, then there's no point helping Ukraine at all anymore. It's one thing to impose reasonable limitations on grain imports, but a completely different thing to completely ban it. And it doesn't matter how much volunteering you did personally. It's like making one step forward and then running a marathon backwards.

[-] Miernix@programming.dev 2 points 1 year ago

Yes, I can agree to some extent. I just want you to understand why this is not so obviously evil move of Poland. Grain export to Poland alone has not been a huge part of Ukrainian economy. To show the scale, when we compare year 2021 and 2022, the import of wheat is 168 times bigger and for corn its almost 300x. And in 2023 it was still growing. There were just no way for Polish farmers to sell their own crops

[-] Aux@lemmy.world 1 points 1 year ago

Look, I have a great solution for you, guys. Make vodka from your grain and sell it to Russia. That will deprive Putin from foreign currency and will keep their population fucked and unable to wage war.

[-] Miernix@programming.dev 2 points 1 year ago

I am responding to this so that some person less familiar with the topic does not form an incorrect opinion. The reality is that Poland has donated incredible amounts of military equipment, humanitarian aid to Ukraine, and has introduced financial and legal assistance to those who have already fled Ukraine. I don't know what your comment is aimed at, but it is simply a lie. I myself have volunteered at refugee aid stations, along with thousands of Warsaw residents, so I can confirm that Polish people are really helpful.

[-] downpunxx@kbin.social 13 points 1 year ago

there's no grain shortage in any of the countries mentioned, there's shortages in africa and the developing world, and the above mentioned countries farmers would rather not foot the bill in reduced grain prices, so the developing world can be fed while they starve, they would rather the rich eu nations pay them to allow grain to move through their countries, which is fair by anyone's estimation. it's all in the matter of who pays the bill, and how many africans the world feels should eat at any given time. it's all money, the infrastructure is there for transport. it works fine.

[-] CanadaPlus@lemmy.sdf.org 1 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Yeah, the infrastructure is there, but it's under constant threat of bombing, so it could either get blown up or just stay put because it's too unsafe to operate. What will possibly happen as a result of this is that Ukrainian grain will sit in Ukraine while Africa goes hungry, because Poland is still consuming the same amount of grain and there's now less to go around.