Grain conflict escalates: Ukraine wants to take EU allies to court The secret billionaire: he made his money with Gazprom

Poland is generally one of Ukraine’s closest allies. Warsaw is close to Kiev in terms of both arms supplies and sanctions against Russia. After the start of the Russian war of aggression, Poland also took in well over a million Ukrainians.

But now there is a real dispute between the two allies and a stress test for solidarity.

Poland, together with Hungary and Slovakia, decided this weekend to close their borders to Ukrainian agricultural products, mainly grain and oilseeds. The government in Warsaw argues that cheap grain from Ukraine would destroy trade for Polish farmers.

Ukraine reacts irritated

In an interview with CH Media the day before, Ukrainian Economy Minister Yulia Sviridenko made it clear that this was not true and threatened arbitration. The Polish grain boycott was “purely political in nature,” Sviridenko criticized. Background: Poland is in the hot phase of the election campaign and the national-conservative PiS ruling party is fighting for every vote, especially among the rural population.

Now Ukraine is getting serious and has announced that it will sue Poland, Hungary and Slovakia in the World Trade Organization (WTO) court: “It is important to demonstrate that these measures (by Poland) are legally wrong,” said the Ukrainian deputy . Minister of Economy Taras Kachka in an interview with the news platform “Politico”. Ukraine will take legal action. At the same time, retaliatory measures are being prepared against Polish fruit and vegetable imports.

European Commission in conflict of interest

The European Commission in Brussels is now in an unpleasant position. On Friday, the country decided to end all import restrictions on agricultural products, which were introduced in May out of respect for Ukraine’s five EU neighbors. But Brussels was unable to counter the open rebellion of Poland, Hungary and Slovakia. What remains is the impression of division.

Deputy Minister of Economic Affairs Kachka puts his finger in the right wound when he says:

For international partners, this jeopardizes the confidence that Brussels still speaks for the entire EU when it comes to trade matters, Kachka said.

At EU headquarters, people are trying to downplay the dispute. A spokeswoman said on Monday that they were analyzing measures taken by Poland, Hungary and Slovakia. Apparently they still hope to resolve the conflict with a compromise.

Export controls in Ukraine should help with this

After all, Ukraine has committed to using its own export controls to ensure that the European market is not flooded with grain. Efforts will now be made to get Poland, Hungary and Slovakia back on board with additional guarantees. Whether this can work remains unclear.

One thing is clear: the dispute shows how far-reaching the consequences of Ukraine’s accession to the EU would be for the European agricultural sector. Despite the war, Ukraine, with its fertile black soil and vast arable land, is an agricultural superpower and would immediately be one of the largest agricultural producers in the EU.

European farmers thus faced painful competition from large Ukrainian farms. Moreover, Kiev would be entitled to a substantial share of the billions in agricultural subsidies, which make up about a third of the entire EU budget. Money that would have to be taken from other EU countries.