EU countries have asked von der Leyen to intervene in the Ukrainian grain crisis
The prime ministers of several EU countries have asked Ursula von der Leyen, the head of the European Commission, to intervene in the crisis caused by the influx of grain from Ukraine.
A letter published on Friday by the prime ministers of Poland, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria and Slovakia to von der Leyen noted that “the problems are linked to a significant increase in the supply of Ukrainian products to the markets of EU member states, especially those bordering or close to Ukraine”, in particular “there has been an unprecedented increase in imports of cereals, oilseeds, eggs, poultry, sugar, apple juice, berries, apples, flour, honey and pasta”.
Politicians say a number of EU countries “have had difficulty in exploiting surplus grain in storage, which has destabilized the grain market.
In order to cope with the situation they propose to allocate additional funds from the EU funds to solve the problem of Ukrainian grain. “Given the scale of the aforementioned phenomena, it is necessary to significantly increase the amount of financial resources allocated by the European Union for support. Additional funds are needed because funds from national budgets are insufficient,” the letter reads.
According to the premiers’ assessment, funding additional measures could “help realise the original objective of the ‘solidarity belt’, i.e. the export of Ukrainian surplus agricultural products to countries in Africa and the Middle East”.
“We urge the commission to analyse the possibility of buying surplus grain from neighbouring member states for humanitarian purposes,” the letter said.
In addition, the premiers urge the European Commission to propose a joint EU solution “which in cooperation with the World Food Programme will ensure that Ukrainian grain is purchased so that it does not reach EU member states.”
Earlier, a number of Polish farmers’ organizations, in particular Agrownia, protested against the fact that grain intended for export is imported to Poland from Ukraine but settles in the republic, as well as because of the improper quality of this grain. According to the Polish side’s official data, about 2 million tonnes of grain were imported from Ukraine in the past year.
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