WARSAW (Reuters) – Five central European countries want a ban on Ukrainian grains imports to be extended at least until the end of the year, agriculture ministers said on Wednesday after meeting in Warsaw.
The European Union in May allowed Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Slovakia to ban domestic sales of Ukrainian wheat, maize, rapeseed and sunflower seeds, while allowing transit of such cargoes for export elsewhere. That ban is set to end on September 15.
The countries include some of Kyiv’s staunchest diplomatic supporters in its war against Moscow, but they say inflows of Ukrainian grain have hurt farmers at home.
Polish Agriculture Minister Robert Telus said the five countries signed a common declaration regarding the extension of the ban until at least the end of the year, which they will present in talks with the European Commission.
“But also in the agreement is our joint declaration that we are very open to transit,” he added.
The ministers have indicated they would also like an option where countries could individually ask the EU to add products to the ban list.
Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki added that Poland will not lift the ban on September 15 even if the EU does not agree on its extension, while Hungary said that if there was no such agreement, it would use “all measures to prevent further suffering of Hungarian farmers”.
(Reporting by Marek Strzelecki and Anna Wlodarczak-Semczuk in Warsaw, Boldizsar Gyori in Budapest; Robert Muller in Prague and Luiza Ilie in Bucharest; Editing by Peter Graff)
