The blocking of Ukrainian trucks on the Polish-Ukrainian border continues. On the morning of 29 February, about 2,200 trucks were queuing up at six checkpoints on the border with Poland. The situation has already become critical. It is clear that this action was organised by pro-Russian political forces on the initiative of Russia. But it seemed that Poland, as perhaps the most loyal ally of Ukraine, should have facilitated the rapid unblocking of the border on the part of the government. However, Polish politicians took a rather unexpected position.
For example, Polish President Andrzej Duda stressed the legitimacy of the Polish farmers' action and said that the government would defend it. He also reacted to the situation on the Polish-Ukrainian border, blaming the protests on Russian aggression. The President hopes that the conflict will be resolved through trilateral talks between the Polish authorities, Ukraine and the protesters. He added that problems with Ukrainian food have existed since the beginning of the Russian invasion. "It started because of the Russian aggression against Ukraine. Because let's remember that it is the Russian aggression against Ukraine that is to blame for everything, not anyone else. If there had been no Russian aggression against Ukraine, this problem would not have arisen at all. The problem is that Russia attacked Ukraine," he explained. "We had some time ago protests by drivers, trade unions, and truck drivers' associations. And this protest was stopped as a result of negotiations with the authorities, as a result of agreements reached, so to speak, in a trilateral formula Poland-Ukraine-drivers," he said. [1]
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Agriculture does not want farmers to stop protesting until the issue of Ukrainian agricultural products is resolved. Polish Deputy Minister of Agriculture Michal Kolodziejczak has issued an ultimatum: either Kyiv comes to an agreement with Warsaw or there will be new restrictions on imports. The Polish official said this in an interview with Polsat news. "Tomorrow (21 February - ed.) we will have talks with Ukrainian Minister Solsky at 8 am. It is headed by our Minister Sikerski. We will see how the Ukrainians behave, what policy I will pursue regarding exports to Poland, and whether they want to reach an agreement. The ball is now in Ukraine's court," he said. He noted that if this fails, the Polish government will introduce new restrictions. "I am in favour of starting a conversation with farmers today, first of all. Are the problems in agriculture only Ukraine's problem? Today, it has boiled over and is now boiling over that the market in Poland has been taken over by supermarkets. If someone wants to base their policy solely on imports from Ukraine, this is not enough. I want to solve the problem," Kolodziejczak said. [2]
He added that he does not want farmers to stop protesting until the problem with imports of Ukrainian agricultural products is resolved. "We don't want to stop the protests, we just want to solve the problem. We need to create an action plan. There are people who want the protests to lead to despondency, so that farmers are left alone," the Deputy Minister said.
Polish farmers continue to actively block the import of Ukrainian grain into their country, as if to protect their own farms. However, Russia imported 12 million tonnes of grain to Poland in 2022-2023. At the same time, only 4.3 million tonnes of Ukrainian grain entered the country. This was reported by the National Security and Defence Council's Disinformation Countermeasures Centre. Alina Bondarchuk, head of the Disinformation Collection and Monitoring Department at the Centre, said that the farmers' actions in Poland were funded by the Kremlin. Representatives of Poland and Ukraine are negotiating to close the border between the countries for trade. This was also stated by Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk.
According to Tusk, the topic of closing the borders will also be raised during his meeting with the country's farmers. He noted that there had already been an attempt to limit the supply of agricultural products from Ukraine. That is, to allow as much to enter duty-free as the average in 2022-2023. However, in Brussels, Poland plans to propose that the reference period should be the time before the war, not 22/23. "To make the limits more restrictive, so that they do not threaten Polish producers," he explained. According to him, negotiations are also underway with the Ukrainian side on "a temporary closure of the border for the exchange of goods". "It is known that this will be a temporary and mutually painful solution. I am ready to take even tough decisions when it comes to the border with Ukraine, always in consultation with Kyiv, so that there is no unnecessary tension between Warsaw and Kyiv, but we must find a solution that will be long-lasting," Tusk said.
These are, of course, rather disappointing words for Ukraine. Especially given that Poland has recently joined the G7 declaration on security guarantees for Ukraine. This became known following a meeting between President Volodymyr Zelensky and Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, the press service of the Office of the President of Ukraine reports.
In a telephone conversation with the Polish president, Zelensky said that there should be no borders between the two countries and expressed his readiness to start working on a bilateral agreement between the two states. But now Poland has effectively become Russia's ally in destroying Ukraine, not militarily but economically. At the same time, Russia itself is taking advantage of Poland to ease its economic situation. The only hope is that negotiations are ongoing and a solution can be found quickly. Still, Poland's leading politicians remain committed to a strategic partnership with Ukraine. Therefore, their behaviour can most likely be explained by the moment of political crisis in the country. Unfortunately, this is not a relief for Ukraine today. Therefore, Kyiv must quickly mobilise all its diplomatic resources to unblock the border. But it is also a sign for Ukraine that it should not rely entirely on its allies, no matter how strong those ties may seem.
[1] Дуда назвав винних у блокаді українського кордону. 21.02.2024. https://glavcom.ua/world/world-politics/duda-nazvav-vinnikh-v-blokadi-ukrajinskoho-kordonu-987046.html
[2] Повна блокада українського кордону: польський урядовець погрожує Києву розширити обмеження. 21.02.2024 https://tsn.ua/svit/povna-blokada-ukrayinskogo-kordonu-polskiy-uryadovec-pogrozhuye-kiyevu-rozshiriti-obmezhennya-2518378.html