2024-03-04 15:50 update: 2024-03-05, 21:18
Donald Tusk. Photo PAP/Leszek Szymański
Donald Tusk, the Polish prime minister, has said he will propose a resolution calling on the EU to impose an embargo on Russian grain and other produce.
Tusk raised the topic of an embargo after talks with Evika Silina, the Latvian prime minister, last week.
Despite European sanctions on Russia over the war in Ukraine, Russian food products have managed to remain largely free of restrictions.
Latvia has become the first EU country to impose an embargo on Russian agri-products in order to counteract the destabilisation of the national market caused by cheap imports from its giant neighbour.
On Monday, during a joint press conference in Vilnius with Ingrida Simonyte, the Lithuanian prime minister, Tusk said he would ask the lower house of the Polish parliament, the Sejm, to pass a resolution demanding EU sanctions.
"Today, on my return from Vilnius, I will address the Sejm Speaker in Warsaw, to propose a resolution of the Polish Sejm calling on the European Commission to impose full sanctions on Russian and Belarusian food products," he said.
Tusk added that he believes a joint European decision will be more effective than individual ones.
"I understand them, but I would prefer that we decide together, as the whole EU, on sanctions on Russia and Belarus, on food and agricultural products," he added.
Tusk is holding a series of meetings with the leaders of Baltic states, discussing the region's security and economy.
In recent weeks, Polish farmers have held protests against Ukrainian agricultural imports they say are undercutting their markets. The protests have involved blockades of the Polish-Ukrainian border and the destruction of some imported agri-products. (PAP)
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