The European Union lifts import restrictions on Ukrainian cereals.
Elle aura attendu jusqu’au dernier moment pour annoncer sa décision. Vendredi 15 septembre, la Commission européenne a décidé de supprimer tout blocage des importations de céréales d’Ukraine vers l’ensemble des Vingt-Sept à partir de samedi.
The institution responsible for the European Union’s (EU) trade policy decided to block the exports of Ukrainian wheat, corn, rapeseed, and sunflower seeds to five neighboring countries: Poland, Hungary, Slovakia, Romania, and Bulgaria. These countries claimed that these exports were destabilizing their domestic market and reducing the income of their farmers. As a result, they unilaterally banned the passage of Ukrainian cereals through their territory starting from mid-April.
In light of this unprecedented situation, the Commission eventually provided support to these five countries through an exceptional financial aid of several tens of millions of euros, coupled with a limited embargo imposed only on these five member states.
If Sofia had announced her intention to lift all blockades on Thursday, the other countries were not on the same page. On Friday, even before the decision was announced, Hungarian Viktor Orban stated that he would continue the embargo. In the evening, a few minutes after the Commission’s statement, Poland and Slovakia did the same, openly defying Brussels.
“I cannot reword”
Rassurer les pays limitrophes de l’Ukraine
Both countries are particularly sensitive to these issues as they are in the midst of an election campaign. However, in Poland, the ruling party’s electoral base, PiS (Law and Justice), is strong in agricultural regions. On Tuesday, the Prime Minister, Mateusz Morawiecki, stated on X (formerly Twitter) that “as long as PiS reigns, we will protect the Polish countryside from any threat. Unlike our predecessors, we do not hesitate to say to Brussels: STOP.”
Pour la Commission européenne, la réaction des trois pays est plus que problématique. « Nous ne pouvions pas pérenniser des mesures exceptionnelles de sauvegarde, qui par nature doivent être limitées dans le temps, assurait, vendredi soir, Valdis Dombrovskis, le vice-président de l’exécutif communautaire, présent à Saint-Jacques-de-Compostelle (Espagne) pour un conseil des ministres des finances de l’UE. D’autant, qu’il n’y a plus de distorsion des marchés nationaux pour les céréales. »
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