Sikorsky demands that the EU reintroduce trade restrictions on imports of Ukrainian products

Poland’s Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski is demanding that the EU reinstate trade restrictions on Ukrainian food imports that existed before Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Bloomberg reports.

“We should return to pre-war trade rules and then start negotiations with Ukraine on joining the EU and the single market with all the adjustments and all the rules that need to be followed,” Sikorsky said at a meeting at the Atlantic Council in Washington.

His proposal would mean that the EU would reinstate all import restrictions that the bloc lifted in 2022 to help Kyiv find new export routes, giving it almost unimpeded access to the 27-nation common market.

In his opinion, the situation in Ukraine has changed, and now Ukrainian products can be shipped across the Black Sea.

“Polish farmers cannot bear the burden of all EU solidarity with Ukraine. We must do both – save Ukraine and save Polish farming,” Sikorski said.

Since February 9, 2024, farmers have been protesting on the roads leading to the border crossing points in Poland near the border with Ukraine. The main demands of the protesters are a ban on imports of Ukrainian agricultural products and Poland’s rejection of the European Green Deal. As a result, some Ukrainian agricultural products are only going to Poland in transit. During this time, there have been five cases of Ukrainian agricultural products spilling out of freight cars onto the tracks or from trucks on the roads.

Tags: Ukraine, EU, agricultural products, restrictions