Ukraine says it expects order on Polish-Ukrainian border 'restored'
A Ukrainian deputy prime minister has told the European Commission (EC) that her government expects the “restoration of public order” on the Polish-Ukrainian border.
Border crossings between the two countries have been blocked by Polish farmers protesting against the import of cheap Ukrainian produce.
Kyiv has said the protests are affecting its efforts to repel the Russian invasion.
Olga Stefanishyna said on Monday that the Ukrainian government had told the EC of the "situation at the Ukrainian-Polish border, in particular of the emergence of obstacles to passenger transport."
She said that on Sunday there had been an attempt on the Polish side to block a passenger train travelling from the Ukrainian capital to the south-eastern Polish city of Chelm, which was carrying 260 passengers, most of them women and children.
"We await a clear reaction from our European partners to the border blockade and the restoration of public order on the border," Stefanishyna said, highlighting that a meeting had been scheduled in Brussels on Tuesday of the Coordination Platform for the Export and Transit of Ukrainian Agricultural Products.
Another Ukrainian deputy prime minister, Infrastructure Minister Oleksandr Kubrakov, said on the X platform on Monday: "Ukraine is doing everything possible to minimize any possible economic losses for Polish farmers. We believe that the blockade is definitely beneficial to Russia, and it's already using it to show that we aren't doing well w/ our friendly Poland."
Kubrakov went on to tweet that last month Ukraine had exported 6.7 million tonnes of agricultural produce, mostly by sea. "In contrast, only 0.37 mln (tonnes) of agricultural products transited through Poland, which is about 5 percent of the total," he wrote. (PAP)
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