Ukraine Criticizes EU for Planning to Extend Agricultural Imports Ban

Ukraine has expressed its criticism of the plans by certain European Union member states to limit the import of its agricultural products until the end of the current year. The country has called for a "balanced solution" to be found.

Slovakia, Bulgaria, Poland, Romania, and Hungary are all planning to extend the ban on Ukrainian grain imports until the end of 2023.

In a statement, the Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs declared that "Kyiv considers the extension of trade restrictions on agricultural product imports after the end of the European Commission's ban on September 15th to be completely unacceptable."

The ministry continued by stating that "adding additional categories of Ukrainian products to the list of prohibited imports is entirely incomprehensible to Kyiv."

It also emphasized that "unilateral restrictions of this nature are not in line with the 'Partnership Agreement' between Ukraine and the European Union, as well as the principles and rules of the Union's single market."

Ukraine has urged the leadership of the European Union to seek a "balanced solution" to this situation.

Earlier, the European Commission had announced that it had taken certain measures regarding the import of certain grain crops from Ukraine. 

These measures aim to address logistical difficulties related to these products in Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, Romania, and Slovakia, according to the Commission.

The measures were initially implemented from May 2nd to June 5th, 2023, and were subsequently extended until September 15th.