On 6 January, the head of Poland's Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Czeslaw Siekierski, is going to sign an agreement with representatives of the Deceived Village movement to stop blocking the Medyca border crossing with Ukraine.
Tusk's government can succeed in unblocking Ukrainian border
According to Rzeczpospolita, the team of the current Prime Minister Donald Tusk decided to provide written guarantees of fulfilling the three demands of the protesting farmers: corn subsidies, guarantees of no tax increases and cheap loans.
As for subsidies, Poland has applied to the European Commission for approval, the cancellation of the 21% tax increase must be approved by the Polish Sejm, and loan guarantees will be provided by local authorities, which will then receive compensation from the state budget, the article says.
In addition, it is emphasised that Deceived Village also insisted on extending the ban on imports of some agricultural products from Ukraine.
First of all, we are talking about soft fruits, sugar, alcohol, honey, apple concentrate, eggs and poultry meat.
Although the Polish government informed the farmers that it had approved some of the demands, they demanded written guarantees, which is why Siekierski is supposedly going to the city of Rzeszow on Saturday to conclude the agreement. After that, the farmers are supposed to end the blockade.
According to insiders of Rzeczpospolita, as of the evening of 5 January, no final decision had been made in this case.
Blockade of Ukrainian border: what is important to know
Polish farmers from the Deceived Village began blocking the crossing in Medyka on 23 November 2023.
On 24 December, the protesters made an official statement that they were suspending their protest until early January, and that if their demands were not met, they might resume it..
The blockade was resumed on January 4.
It is also worth noting that in late December, the governments of Ukraine and Poland agreed on an action plan to unblock the border.
