Polish farmers begin protest at border with Lithuania — RT World News

Polish farmers have begun a week-long protest along the border with Lithuania against the import of Ukrainian grain, Baltic state authorities said. Agricultural workers have been closing checkpoints on the Ukrainian border for months in an attempt to prevent cheap products from reaching the neighboring country.

The Lithuanian municipal administration of Kalvarija announced in a Facebook post that the protest at the Budzisko-Kalvarija checkpoint on the Polish-Lithuanian border began on Friday.

Polish agricultural workers have been protesting Ukrainian grain imports since the fall. They claim that agricultural producers from the neighboring country have an unfair advantage, given that they do not have to abide by EU rules or pay the bloc's taxes.

Farmers were completely preventing trucks from Ukraine from entering Poland, but they are using them 'A new form of protest' On the Lithuanian border, Kalvarija authorities said.

“The goal of this move is not to cripple an important transportation artery or intentionally harm businesses.” But to draw attention to the issue of the transit of grain from Ukraine and other non-EU countries through Lithuania.

Protest organizer Karol Pieczynski confirmed to LTR that he would be there 'There is no complete siege' From the border with Lithuania. He said that what the farmers intend to do is to check trucks entering Poland with the country's border guards to check whether they are carrying grain.

Pyczynski claimed that not only Ukrainian grain, but also Russian and Belarusian grain enter Poland through Lithuanian territory.

The protest organizer spoke about what is called “round grain” Which suppliers were allegedly using to circumvent the embargo on Ukrainian grains imposed by Poland, Hungary and Slovakia. Grain trucks from Ukraine pass through Polish territory into Lithuania, which is allowed under the terms of the embargo. They then return to Poland from the Baltic state, but they receive new papers at the border, according to which the grains they carry become EU goods that are no longer subject to restrictions, Pieczynski confirmed.

Polish Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Michal Kolodziejczak told RMF FM radio earlier that the amount of Ukrainian grain delivered to the country via Lithuania was minimal. Of the 1,500 trucks recently inspected, only one truck contained Ukrainian goods, Kolodzijeczak said, adding that this transpiration route is simply unprofitable.