Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said on Wednesday (Feb.28) he would meet protesting farmers' leaders on Thursday, as demonstrations continued across the country. He added that Poland was in talks with Ukraine regarding a temporary closing of the border between the two countries. Ukraine's Deputy Prime Minister Oleksandr Kubrakov said later that day Ukraine was not going to close its border with Poland and was engaged in no talks on the matter.
Farmers across Europe have been protesting for weeks against constraints placed on them by EU regulations meant to tackle climate change, as well as rising costs and what they say is unfair competition from outside the EU, particularly Ukraine.
"I have convened an agricultural summit in Warsaw for tomorrow ... I will meet with the leaders of all protesting groups," Tusk said during a press conference.
"We have a very important problem. We are the most pro-Ukrainian nation when it comes to aid, but we have the biggest problems in Europe resulting from the war."
The Polish prime ministers added a current EU proposal to limit the amount of food products arriving from Ukraine to levels from the last two years was "unacceptable" for Poland and it wanted the reference amount to be set at levels from before Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
Tusk also stressed that he was ready to take tough decisions regarding the border in consultation with Ukraine. "I do not hide the fact that we are talking to Ukraine about temporarily closing the border."
"Ukraine is not going to close its borders with Poland. No one from the Ukrainian side is negotiating about this," Deputy Prime Minister Oleksandr Kubrakov said on X later on Wednesday. "Our people are fighting for their existence in a war with the Russian aggressor. For us, a stable border is a matter of survival."
"We have great respect for friendly Poland and have offered constructive solutions and taken steps to ease tensions at the border. We expect appropriate decisions from the Polish government to ensure that the situation does not reach a deadlock," Kubrakov added.
On Tuesday, thousands of Polish farmers took to the streets of Warsaw.
Źródło: TVN24 News in English, Reuters