Displaying items by tag: Mateus Morawiecki

One of Ukraine's staunchest allies, Poland, has said it will no longer supply weapons to its neighbour, as a diplomatic dispute over grain escalates. The dispute began after the Russian invasion forced Ukraine to find alternative overland routes, which led to large quantities of grain ending up in central Europe. Consequently, the EU temporarily banned imports of grain into five countries to protect local farmers, who feared Ukrainian grain was driving down prices. The ban ended on 15 September, but Hungary, Slovakia and Poland decided to keep on implementing it. Remarks by President Zelenskiy at the UN, that it was alarming how some of Ukraine's friends were ‘making a thriller from grain’, have been denounced by Warsaw as unjustified. Prime minister Mateus Morawiecki was adamant Poland was helping Ukraine defeat the ‘Russian barbarian’ by maintaining a military hub, but he said he would not agree to Poland's markets being destabilised by grain imports. Ukraine has filed lawsuits with the World Trade Organisation against the three countries over the bans, which it says are a violation of international obligations.

Last weekend Polish prime minister Mateusz Morawiecki met his counterparts from Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia, also hit by migrant pressure in recent months. During the week he has travelled to other European countries, which he did not name. Morawiecki said on Facebook that it is a ‘very serious geopolitical situation’ which requires a lot of diplomatic effort as many migrants remain in Belarus and continue attempting to enter Poland. ‘This is why I set out on a journey to other European countries, to talk about the international crisis provoked by the actions of Alexander Lukashenko. Unfortunately, there are numerous signs suggesting that this geopolitical crisis will continue for many months, even years’, Morawiecki said. Poland is pushing the migrants back to protect the border for all of Europe and has received words of support from the EU, NATO and the USA.