Poland’s parliament has, in a near-unanimous vote, passed a resolution calling on the EU to impose sanctions on Russian and Belarusian agricultural imports, to protect domestic markets from “excessive” imports of Ukrainian produce, and to withdraw “unreasonable and costly” climate policies.
The measure comes amid protests in Poland by farmers against Ukrainian imports and EU policies. In response, the government has pledged to seek EU restrictions on Ukrainian produce, an embargo on Russian and Belarusian agricultural imports, and the suspension of some elements of the Green Deal.
The resolution notes that Russia and Belarus continue to generate large profits from agricultural exports to the EU. Eurostat data, for example, show that EU member states imported 1.54 million tonnes of grain from Russia in 2023, up from 970,000 tonnes the previous year.
“It is our moral obligation to stop trade that may directly or indirectly contribute to strengthening the ability of Russia and its supporter Belarus to continue the war with Ukraine, especially since Russian imports may include grain stolen from the occupied territories of Ukraine,” reads the resolution.
The document also notes that “Russia continues its strategy of weaponising food, causing disruptions to the supply of Ukrainian agricultural products around the world…The food and agricultural trade cannot continue to support the brutal Russian regime and its enablers in Minsk”.
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