Poland will not ban imports of Russian grain, but will support this decision at the EU level – Tusk

Poland will support the introduction of a ban on imports of Russian and Belarusian grain and other agricultural products at the EU level. Prime Minister Donald Tusk said this at a press conference in Vilnius.

“I am convinced that a joint European decision will be much more effective than decisions taken by individual countries… I would like us to decide together as the EU to impose sanctions on Russian and Belarusian agricultural products,” Tusk said.

He noted that on Monday, the Speaker of the Polish Sejm will initiate the adoption of a resolution appealing to the European Commission to propose sanctions against agricultural products from Russia and Belarus.

“Today, I will address the Marshal of the Polish Sejm regarding the decision of the Polish Sejm to impose sanctions on Russian agricultural products and Belarusian agricultural products,” Tusk said.

As reported, Latvia was the first EU country to temporarily ban imports of Russian and Belarusian agricultural products and feed. This ban will be in effect until mid-2025, but can be extended if necessary.

Afterwards, Tusk said that Poland would “carefully” analyze the impact of Latvia’s decision to ban imports of Russian food products and did not rule out reciprocal steps by the Polish authorities.

It is worth noting that Poland has banned the import of a number of agricultural products from Ukraine on an individual basis, despite EU rules.

Back on September 15, 2023, the European Commission refused to extend the temporary ban on imports of Ukrainian wheat, corn, sunflower seeds, and rapeseed to five EU countries neighboring Ukraine. At the same time, Ukraine agreed to introduce an export licensing system to avoid sharp jumps in grain exports to these countries.

However, Slovakia extended its previous EU ban on imports of four types of grain, Poland imposed additional bans on Ukrainian flour and feed, and Hungary banned 25 more products that were not previously discussed, including meat.

Ukraine is currently negotiating the introduction of a mechanism for licensing the export of Ukrainian agricultural products with mandatory verification in each of the five countries, and it is known that specific agreements have been reached with Bulgaria.

Tags: restrictions, Russia, grain, EU, Poland, Belarus