Ukraine called on Warsaw on Monday to “punish” Polish farmers who violently opened fire on Ukrainian trucks crossing into the EU, spilling piles of grain on roads near their border.
Farmers began protesting at the border last week, blocking three crossing points in anger over what they see as cheap Ukrainian grain imports.
The new protests mark another blow to relations between Ukraine and Poland, which just weeks ago managed to quell a similar two-month blockade by Polish truckers.
Ukraine’s agriculture ministry said it strongly condemned the “deliberate destruction of Ukrainian grain by Polish protesters”.
“We expect that the culprits will be quickly identified and punished,” the ministry said.
Poland said it had opened an investigation into “violation of customs security and destruction of property” following the incident.
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The spilled grain “probably will not be suitable for further use,” Agnieszka Kepka, spokeswoman for the Lublin District Prosecutor’s Office, told AFP.
Ukraine, once called the “breadbasket of Europe”, has seen its agricultural sector turned upside down by Russia’s invasion, with many of its Black Sea export hubs blocked and farmland laid waste by war .
“Two years after the full-scale invasion, Ukrainian farmers are working under constant enemy fire and suffering huge losses,” Kyiv’s agriculture ministry said.
“They get this wheat with great difficulty and sometimes at the cost of their lives,” he said.
The protests represent another embarrassing blow to Poland’s new government led by Prime Minister Donald Tusk, which has sought to mend ties with Kiev that were severed by the last right-wing government.
Tusk was in Paris for talks with French leader Emmanuel Macron on Monday, where he stressed that Poland still stands firmly by Ukraine.
“Watering fields with blood”
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In Kiev, outraged officials have called on Warsaw to publicly condemn the incident, criticizing what they see as an alarming rise in anti-Ukrainian sentiment.
“The lack of reaction by the Polish authorities to the damaged cargo will lead to more xenophobia and political violence,” Ukrainian Deputy Economy Minister Taras Katchka said on social media.
Polish police on Monday confirmed they had inspected the scene and interviewed witnesses.
The evidence gathered “will be sent today to the District Prosecutor’s Office in Chelm for a criminal law assessment regarding further proceedings in this case,” local police spokeswoman Ewa Czyz told AFP.
Many Ukrainian officials said the Polish farmers were acting in Russia’s interests.
“Ukrainians are literally watering the fields where this wheat is grown with blood,” Andriy Sadovyi said on social media.
“Harvesting wheat in a field that has seen war is like working as a swordsman,” he added, calling those who dropped the wheat “pro-Russian provocateurs.”
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The leader of the now-defunct Polish truckers’ protest, Rafal Meckler, said he was at the border on Monday and defended the protests.
Polish carriers — who want restrictions on EU entry for their Ukrainian competitors — have vowed to resume a large-scale border blockade if their demands are not met.
Tusk calls for calm
As Kiev expressed anger at the protest, Poland’s Tusk promised to find “solutions” amid a wave of farmers’ protests across Europe.
Tusk returned to power last year after eight years of nationalist rule.
“I will look for common solutions with our French friends on food security,” he said ahead of a meeting with Macron, according to Polish news agencies.
“It is difficult to find in Europe a more pro-Ukrainian politician than me,” he assured, before adding: “But we also have to take into account the interests of Poland and Europe’s food security.”
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A day earlier, he had warned that economic disputes with Ukraine could lead to “sudden anti-Ukrainian sentiment”.
Tusk, who met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Kiev last month, said on Sunday that “nothing will change” in Poland’s intention to help Kiev deal with the Russian invasion.
But he also promised to protect Polish farmers and truck drivers from “unfair or inadequate competition”.
Source: AFP