The Polish Ministry of Agriculture interrupts. He looks around for his Lithuanian and Czech counterparts, seated next to him on the stage. In the room, a man dressed in a yellow vest cocks his arm. Others imitate him. Together these angry farmers shout “Judas”, “Thieves”, “You sold us out for Ukraine”. Then rain the eggs on the rulers.
As during this action organized by a few activists on March 22 in Rzeszów, in the south-east of Poland, in the middle of the European Agricultural Forum, more and more farmers in Central Europe are warning – in a more or less radical way – on the deterioration of their working conditions since the start of the war in Ukraine on 24 February.
In the countries located in its immediate vicinity, Ukrainian grain floods granaries and vats. An effect of the “solidarity corridors” of the European Union, these measures put in place to facilitate the evacuation of these foodstuffs. Problem: many of them end up for sale locally instead of being exported. The supply is exploding, prices are falling and farmers are seeing their incomes melt away.
Five countries urge the European Commission
This is enough to irritate the leaders of the nations concerned, who believe they are suffering from the flaws of the European directives they have supported. “We did not agree, and still do not, for this wheat to reach the Polish or Romanian market […] and destabilizes local markets,” Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said at a press conference in Warsaw on March 29, trying to clarify the situation.
Last Friday, Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania and Bulgaria urged the European Commission to put in place new aid for these farmers, who “risk losing financial liquidity”. Another avenue: “buy cereal surpluses” to relieve central Europe and accelerate exports to Africa and the Middle East, which lack these foodstuffs on their markets.
“We ask the Commission to put in place appropriate procedures to reintroduce customs duties and tariff quotas on imports from Ukraine,” said the officials of these five countries. These tariffs had been removed to prevent grain from spoiling or being stolen from Ukraine.
More help? Not before September
In order to ease tensions, the European Commission proposed two weeks ago to dip into a crisis reserve to support farmers in Poland, Romania and Bulgaria. Brussels thus plans to allocate 29.5 million euros to Poland, 16.75 million to Bulgaria and 10.05 million to Romania. It also authorizes these three countries to double these amounts through state aid. But, if the member states approve it, this aid should not arrive before September.
Other channels for exporting cereals from Ukraine – one of the world’s leading producers of wheat – exist. Since July 2022, it has been possible to transport part of the Russian and Ukrainian foodstuffs via the Black Sea. An agreement has been signed to this effect between Ukraine, Russia, the UN and Turkey, the latter two acting as arbiters. It was extended to mid-March.