Ukraine is outraged by the protests of Polish farmers at the border

Polish police said they were investigating Sunday’s incident, when farmers stopped a truck carrying Ukrainian grain crossing the border and dumped its cargo.

Pictures shared on social media showed grain spilled on the road, as farmers protested against competition from Ukrainian players in the agricultural sector and strict EU rules, as blockades were set up across Poland.

A few weeks ago, Polish truck drivers who had joined farmers’ protests broke a two-month blockade of the border.

“We have another escalation of violence at our common border,” said Ukrainian Deputy Economy Minister Taras Kachka. “The lack of reaction of the Polish authorities to the destroyed cargo will lead to even more xenophobia and political violence.”

In a separate statement, Ukraine’s Ministry of Agriculture strongly condemned the “intentional destruction of Ukrainian grain.”

Poland took in more than a million Ukrainian refugees after Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, but relations with Kyiv have soured in recent months amid economic disputes and some anti-Ukrainian sentiment among Poland’s right-wing voters.

The mayor of the Ukrainian city of Lviv, located near the border with Poland, condemned the incident.

“Ukrainians are literally watering the fields where these grains are grown with blood,” wrote Andrijus Sadov on social media.

“Harvesting wheat in a field during a war is like working as a deminer,” he added. He called the persons who spilled the beans pro-Russian provocateurs.

Rafal Mekler, the leader of the suspended Polish transporters’ protest, defended the grain dumping on Monday and said he was at the border.

This far-right local politician claimed that Ukraine represents Nazi collaborator Stepan Bandera and abortion. Russia traditionally invokes Nazism to justify its invasion of Ukraine.

Jewish organizations associated S. Bandera’s followers with the mass killing of Jews.

Polish carriers, who want restrictions on their Ukrainian rivals to re-impose entry into the EU, have vowed to renew a full-scale border blockade if their demands are not met.