Robert Telus made the declaration in an interview with public broadcaster Polish Radio on Tuesday.
The agriculture minister said that an influx of Ukrainian grain was “causing problems not only for Poland, but also other frontline countries," including Slovakia, Hungary, Romania and the Czech Republic.
He added that farmers' organisations in these countries were "protesting against the inflow of grain from Ukraine.”
Telus told Polish Radio that “we must halt the influx of grain from Ukraine and get as much grain as possible out of Poland.”
He stressed that the Polish government “must look for markets where this grain can be sold,” adding that a Cabinet crisis team, led by Deputy Prime Minister Jacek Sasin, would meet later on Tuesday, Polish Radio’s IAR news agency reported.
Poland wants to distribute Ukrainian grain around Europe
Telus declared he would like to "offer a certain plan" to his counterparts from Slovakia, Hungary, Romania and the Czech Republic.
He added it was “a plan to regulate, or distribute Ukrainian grain around Europe, so that it doesn’t stay in four or five countries, which is the case now, but is spread around Europe.”
Telus also said he would meet with protesting Polish farmers on Wednesday.
He declared: “I’ll be doing everything to be with the Polish people, and especially Polish farmers, at this time, in this very difficult, wartime situation.”
Telus told reporters that on Friday he struck an agreement with his Ukrainian counterpart Mykola Solskyi to temporarily halt imports of Ukrainian grain to Poland “until this year’s harvest.”
Meanwhile, transit “will be allowed but will be closely monitored in both countries, so that Ukraine grain doesn’t stay in Poland,” he said.
Ukraine's neighbours 'must act together'
Telus on Tuesday met with farmers' organisations from Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania and the Czech Republic in the eastern Polish village of Rakołupy Duże, the IAR news agency reported.
The Polish agriculture minister said that the five frontline countries "must act together" to "have their voices heard by the European Commission."
Brussels is expected to decide by June whether to restore tariffs for agricultural produce from Ukraine, according to IAR.
Telus told the meeting that the situation on Europe's grain markets was further exacerbated by an influx of grain from Russia and Moscow-controlled parts of Ukraine.
Poland grapples with influx of Ukrainian grain
Poland has admitted some 2.8 million tonnes of Ukrainian grain since Ukraine's Black Sea ports were blocked following Russia's invasion in February last year, the IAR news agency has reported.
Large quantities of Ukrainian grains, which are cheaper than those produced in the European Union, have ended up staying in Central European states, due to logistics bottlenecks, hitting prices and sales for local farmers, according to a report by the Reuters news agency.
At the end of last week, Poland and four other EU countries sent a joint letter to the European Commission, demanding restrictions on Ukrainian grain imports, according to officials.
The move was initiated by Poland's Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki, who had previously criticised the EU executive for failing to deliver on its promise to send grain imported from Ukraine to Middle Eastern and African countries, Polish state news agency PAP reported.
On Saturday, the Polish government announced it had begun to buy up wheat grown domestically for consumption.
Polish farmers can submit offers until April 14, Poland’s PAP news agency reported.
Tuesday is day 412 of Russia’s war on Ukraine.
(pm/gs)
Source: IAR, PAP, wpolityce.pl