Poland’s deputy prime minister and agriculture minister has said that the whole European Union should be involved in helping Kyiv with grain exports to alleviate the burden taken in this respect by the countries neighbouring Ukraine.
Henryk Kowalczyk said that during a Monday meeting of EU agriculture ministers that although it was originally assumed that grain imported from Ukraine would go to the countries of Western Europe and Africa, some of it remains in neighbouring countries and farmers there have problems selling their own grain due to full warehouses.
“We want to involve the whole European Union in helping Ukraine in order to mitigate the effects suffered by farmers from border countries in connection with the import of Ukrainian agriculture products,” Kowalczyk said.
He added that the countries bordering Ukraine are ready to continue helping Ukraine: “There is no way that we will turn our backs on Ukraine… but we also want to involve the whole EU in this aid.”
He appealed for concerted action by the European Commission in this matter.
“Firstly, to seal the transit, to enable the transport of this grain outside the neighbouring countries, but also to provide assistance in the current situation. As part of this assistance, I proposed various solutions, including the activation of the crisis reserve in agriculture,” Kowalczyk said.
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