Polish farmers unblocked the border with Ukraine

On Monday, Polish farmers announced the end of protests on the Polish-Ukrainian border, in which they blocked border crossings between the two countries, preventing agricultural products from Ukraine from entering Polish territory.

According to a representative of the Ukrainian border service, traffic across the border in both directions has been completely restored. The border is unblocked. Minister of Agrarian Policy of Ukraine Nikolai Solsky noted the “constructive work” of the Polish authorities.

The months-long protests by Polish farmers that began last fall stemmed from concerns about falling prices for their produce as a result of increasing exports of Ukrainian grain and other agricultural products to Europe as a result of the European Union’s temporary lifting of import duties on Ukrainian exports. The blocking of Ukrainian grain by Polish farmers has become a source of friction between Warsaw and Kiev, despite the fact that Poland has been one of the most active supporters of Ukraine in the EU since the start of the open Russian invasion of Ukraine. Official Kyiv appealed to the European Union to help resolve the conflict situation.

Organizers of the protests announced the decision to lift the blockade of border crossings after the Polish authorities decided to allocate more than 2 billion zlotys (more than $500 million) in subsidies to compensate farmers for losses from falling grain prices.

InformationalReuters quotes representatives of the Polish farmers’ union as saying that negotiations with the Polish government are ongoing and protests could resume. At the same time, the Ukrainian Ambassador to Poland Vasily Zvarych said that, in his opinion, blocking the border is “a thing of the past.”