Five countries call on the European Commission to ban imports of Russian grain

The ministers of agriculture of Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Poland and the Czech Republic have appealed to the European Commission to ban imports of Russian and Belarusian grain to the EU. The Lithuanian Ministry of Agriculture released a statement to this effect.

The appeal also asks for the cooperation of EU member states to ensure that this restriction is applied throughout the bloc. The ministers of these countries emphasized that it is important to implement measures aimed at preventing stolen grain from Ukraine from entering the European market.

According to Lithuanian Minister of Agriculture Kęstutis Navickas, EU sanctions against Russia are not enough, so additional measures are needed to restrict the access of Russian goods to the EU market.

“We are asking the European Commission to analyze the possibility of restricting imports to the EU of food originating from Russia and Belarus,” he said.

He noted that the five countries are seeking to solve an urgent problem – while Russia is waging war against Ukraine, its grain continues to enter the EU market. In particular, in 2023, the European Union imported 1.53 million tons of Russian grain worth €437.5 million.

The ministers of agriculture of Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Poland, and the Czech Republic emphasize that Russia is using the profits from grain exports to the EU to finance the war with Ukraine.

Agricultural ministers have called for a halt to any trade activity that could strengthen Russia and Belarus’ ability to prolong the conflict in Ukraine, especially since some of Russia’s imports may include stolen grain from the occupied territory of Ukraine.

It is planned to speak on this issue on March 26 at the upcoming meeting of the EU Council of Ministers of Agriculture.

As reported, the European Union is preparing to impose duties on grain imports from Russia and Belarus to reassure farmers and some member states – this will be the first restriction on Russian food products since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

As a reminder, Latvia has finally banned the import of grain and vegetables from Russia.

Tags: Estonia, Czech Republic, restrictions, Russia, grain, EU, Poland, Latvia, Lithuania