Kiev will lobby for its right to export grain into Poland under World Trade Organization rules, Ukrainian Prime Minister Denis Shmygal has declared.
On Tuesday, the chair of the Ukrainian government reiterated that Kiev does not want to harm Polish farmers, but warned that it would seek arbitration if Warsaw maintained a ban on imports. The current temporary restriction on sales of Ukrainian grain, which was imposed by the EU in May, is set to expire on Friday.
“We have no intention of harming Polish farmers,” Shmygal stated on X (formerly Twitter). Warsaw’s stated policy of keeping the ban in place would be a “violation of trade law in the interest of political populism before the elections,” he added.
Poland is set to hold a general election in October, with the ruling Law and Justice party seeking a third term at the helm.
Earlier in the day, Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki pledged to make sure that Ukrainian grain would not “flood” his nation, causing distress to local producers. That will be the case regardless of what the EU decides, he assured.
When asked about Shmygal’s remark by local media outlets, government spokesman Piotr Muller said Warsaw would maintain the embargo at the national level if its appeal to the EU to renew the ban failed. The Polish government adopted a formal message to the European Commission arguing its case on Tuesday.
Brussels’ ban had de facto legitimized prohibitions imposed nationally by Poland, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, and Slovakia. Hungary, Bulgaria, and Romania have said they intend to reimpose national bans if the EU prohibition expires.