KIEV (dpa-AFX) – In view of the new Russian naval blockade against grain from his country, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyj has called on the EU to open its borders to agricultural products. Europe’s institutions could act more sensibly than closing borders on a specific product, Zelensky said in his nightly video message broadcast in Kiev on Monday evening. The restrictions on Ukrainian grain exports that have been in place until September 15 should really end on that day.
“Any extension of these restrictions is absolutely unacceptable and clearly not European,” he said. There should be no blocking of Ukrainian exports, he also wrote in a message on his Telegram channel.
At the beginning of June, the EU Commission decided to extend restrictions on grain imports from Ukraine until September 15. The five eastern EU states of Poland, Hungary, Slovakia, Romania and Bulgaria want to stick to the import ban even after the date if the EU Commission does not find another solution.
Zelenskyy said he had consulted with government officials and experts on how agricultural products could pass through EU territory again. A solution in the spirit of Europe is being worked on.
Farmers in the eastern EU countries fear that competition will cause prices to fall if Ukrainian agricultural products come onto the EU market. Wheat, maize, rapeseed and sunflower seeds from Ukraine can no longer be freely traded there. However, the transit of the goods to other EU countries is permitted. Ukraine, which is striving to join the EU, sees a possible extension of the import bans as a “not very friendly step” and as discrimination.
For Ukraine, which has been defending itself against Russian aggression for the past 17 months, overland transport is now the only way to sell its agricultural products on the world market and thus generate important income. Last Monday, Russia canceled an agreement to ship Ukrainian grain across the Black Sea. The reason given by Moscow was that its demands on the EU for a relaxation of sanctions had not been met./mau/DP/he