Five countries ask the EU to support farmers in 2024 by importing Ukrainian grain

Bulgaria, Poland, Hungary, Slovakia, and Romania have called on the European Commission to continue financial support for farmers affected by Ukrainian grain imports throughout 2024.

According to the BNR, this was announced by the Minister of Agrarian Policy and Food of Bulgaria Kiril Vatiev following a meeting of the European Council on Agriculture and Fisheries.

According to Vatiev, support for farmers was discussed at the meeting of the five eastern members of the European Union in the context of the impact of imports of Ukrainian agricultural products.

“Today we had another serious conversation with the Commissioner for Agriculture Janusz Wojciechowski. I raised this issue with him again, because we have a letter from the Commission saying that they propose… that the ceiling (of support – Ed.) should be 280 thousand euros, and before it was 250 thousand euros, and that it should last until March 31,” he said.

According to the Bulgarian minister, he held a meeting with his colleagues from Poland, Hungary, Slovakia and Romania, where they coordinated their positions and discussed the situation.

“Basically, the situation is the same in all countries, and we agreed that we will all ask for new aid for our farmers for the whole of 2024, because they are now at a disadvantage,” Vatiev added.

As you know, in September 2023, the European Commission lifted restrictions on imports of Ukrainian agricultural products to five eastern EU countries, which were imposed due to complaints from local farmers. But three countries – Poland, Slovakia, and Hungary – responded by announcing unilateral restrictions on Ukrainian imports.

Tags: Hungary, Slovakia, Ukraine, Bulgaria, subsidies, grain, Romania, EU, Poland