France, Poland Urge Tightening Restrictions on Grain Imports from Ukraine

France and Poland have called for imposing stricter restrictions on agricultural imports from Ukraine to prevent "destabilizing the agricultural markets in the European Union," especially after farmers' protests in several countries.

During a meeting of the European Union, members discussed, among other things, how to extend the waiver of customs duties on Ukrainian agricultural products while reassuring their disgruntled farmers about the influx of cheap grains flooding the market.

French Agriculture Minister, Marc Finoth, stated that destabilizing market stability could undermine popular support for Ukraine, which is not in the interests of the European Union and Kiev.

His Polish counterpart, Czesław Sikorski, emphasized that farmers in neighboring countries to Ukraine are "paying a high price."

According to the agency, Paris and Warsaw insist on limiting the import of agricultural products from Ukraine, with the maximum allowed for grain imports being the average quantity imported during the period from 2021 to 2023.

Due to the liberalization of trade with Ukraine, the European agricultural sector lost an estimated 19 billion euros between 2022 and 2023.

This led farmers to take to the streets in protests in European countries including Germany, France, Belgium, Spain, Italy, Poland, Romania, and others.