Unilateral action on trade by European Union member states is unacceptable, a European Commission spokesperson said on Sunday, after Poland and Hungary announced bans on grain and other food imports from Ukraine to protect the local agricultural sector.
After Russia's invasion blocked some Black Sea ports, large quantities of Ukrainian grain, which is cheaper than that produced in the European Union, ended up staying in Central European states due to logistical bottlenecks, hitting prices and sales for local farmers.
The issue has created a political problem for Poland's ruling nationalist Law and Justice (PiS) party in an election year as it has angered people in rural areas where support for PiS is usually high.
“We are aware of Poland and Hungary’s announcements regarding the ban on imports of grain and other agricultural products from Ukraine,” the spokesperson said in an emailed statement. “In this context, it is important to underline that trade policy is of EU exclusive competence and, therefore, unilateral actions are not acceptable.”
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“In such challenging times, it is crucial to co-ordinate and align all decisions within the EU,” the statement added.
Poland and Hungary have been embroiled in long-running conflicts with Brussels over issues including judicial independence, media freedoms and LGBT rights, and both have had funds withheld due to concerns over the rule of law.
The Polish ban, which came into effect on Saturday evening, will also apply to the transit of these products through the country, the minister for development and technology said on Sunday.
“The ban is full, including the ban on transit through Poland,” Waldemar Buda wrote on Twitter, adding that talks would be held with the Ukrainian side to create a system that ensures goods only pass through Poland and do not end up on the local market.
[ Wagner fighters have captured two more parts of Bakhmut, says RussiaOpens in new window ]
Ukraine's ministry of agrarian policy and food said on Saturday that the Polish ban contradicted existing bilateral agreements on exports, and called for talks to settle the issue.
Ukraine's state-run Ukrinform news agency said Ukrainian and Polish ministers are due to meet on Monday in Poland and the transit arrangement would be focused on in the talks.
Poland’s minister for agriculture Robert Telus was quoted as saying on Sunday that the ban was necessary to “open the eyes of the EU to the fact that further decisions are needed that will allow products from Ukraine to go deep into Europe, and not stay in Poland”.
Ukraine exports most of its agricultural goods, especially grain, via its Black Sea ports, unblocked in July in line with an agreement between Ukraine, Turkey, Russia and the United Nations.
About three million tonnes of grain left Ukraine every month via the Black Sea grain corridor while only up to 200,000 tonnes are moving to European ports through Polish territory, according to the Ukrainian ministry.
Ukraine’s farm minister Mykola Solsky said at the weekend that 500,000 to 700,000 tonnes of various agricultural products cross the Polish border every month, including grain, vegetable oil, sugar, eggs, meat and other products.
Meanwhile, more than 100 Ukrainian prisoners of war (POWs) were released as part of a major Easter exchange with Russia as Orthodox Ukrainians marked the holiday for a second time since the Russian invasion last February.
While celebrations were subdued due to security risks, with a curfew barring the faithful from customary all-night services, Ukrainian authorities and ordinary people shared messages of hope, linking the story of Jesus’s resurrection to their longing for peace and a Ukrainian victory.
Presidential adviser Andriy Yermak announced that 130 soldiers, sailors, border guards and others captured by Moscow were on their way back home following a “big Easter prisoner exchange”.
Mr Yermak said in a Telegram post on Sunday that those released included troops who fought near Bakhmut, the eastern mining city which has for months been the focus of Russia’s offensive.
“The lives of our people are the highest value for us,” Mr Yermak said, adding that Kyiv’s goal was to bring back all remaining POWs.
There was no immediate information on how many Russian prisoners were released, but the press service of the founder of the Wagner Group, the Kremlin-affiliated paramilitary force whose fighters are prominent in eastern Ukraine, also released a video on Sunday showing Ukrainian prisoners of war being readied for an exchange.
The video, published on the Telegram messaging service, features Wagner founder Yevgeny Prigozhin instructing a soldier to prepare the Ukrainian captives to leave Russian-controlled territory “by lunchtime” on Sunday. The POWs are then shown boarding trucks and walking along a road.
In his Easter address released on Sunday morning, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy described the holiday as marking “the victory of good, the victory of truth, the victory of life”, and he stressed what he said was Ukrainian unity in the face of Russian aggression.
“Belief in victory unites all of us always, and especially today. At Easter, which from time immemorial has been a family holiday for Ukrainians, a day of warmth, hope and great unity. We are one big family – Ukrainians. We have one big home – Ukraine. We have one big goal – victory for all,” Mr Zelenskiy said.
Ukraine’s top soldier, general Valery Zaluzhnyy, drew parallels between the Christian message of resurrection and renewal and Ukraine’s hopes for victory.
[ Ukraine tightens security for Orthodox Easter events amid attack fearsOpens in new window ]
“Easter is a holiday of great hope. Hope that will bring us peace. I believe that together, united, we will overcome the enemy,” he wrote in a Facebook post. He also thanked all front-line soldiers who he said will “hold the defence in the trenches, stay in the dugouts, … carry out combat duty” as the rest of the country celebrates.
In central Kyiv, people gathered in the courtyard of the landmark St Michael’s Golden-Domed Monastery on Sunday morning to have their Easter eggs and baskets of food blessed by a priest.
For a second year in a row, Moscow’s brutal war has interrupted holiday routines. Ukraine’s main security service this week issued a statement urging residents not to linger in churches on Sunday, in order to avoid crowding and minimise security risks.
Alla Voronina, one of those who came to St Michael’s with baskets containing Easter cakes and multicoloured eggs, said the restrictions were “very hard” on residents’ morale.
“You constantly recall how it used to be before the war,” she said. Ms Voronina said that she and her family would nevertheless follow the security recommendations and go straight home after receiving the blessing.
Others in the line echoed Zaluzhnyy’s words about a wartime Easter being a symbol of hope.
“As never before, Easter at a time of war inspires us with hope and faith in the future, in the victory of Ukraine, in God’s protection of our Motherland,” said Inna Holivets.
Another worshipper, Tetiana Voloshyna, said she was praying for Ukrainian troops “who defend us and make it possible for us to have this holiday”.
She added she had come to the monastery with her “personal pain and personal requests to God for victory, peace and life”. – Agencies