Poland to consider banning Russian food imports
Poland will consider banning food imports from Russia after it "analyzes" the results of Latvia's decision to do so, Bloomberg reported on Feb. 29, citing Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk.
Latvia became the first EU member to ban imports of grain and other foodstuffs from Russia and Belarus. The ban will come into force in March.
Latvian President Edgars Rinkevics supported the ban, arguing that Russian grain imports support the Russian economy, and therefore its army.
Tusk said that Poland is open to imposing similar regulations, and that he will discuss the issue at a meeting with protesting farmers later on Feb. 29.
Polish farmers have been holding protests across Poland and at the border with Ukraine in opposition to Ukrainian agricultural imports and the EU's Green Deal.
According to Warsaw, the influx of cheaper Ukrainian products threatens the domestic production and livelihoods of Polish farmers, which Kyiv denies. Poland has already instituted a ban on several Ukrainian products, such as grain.
In a meeting with Latvian Prime Minister Evika Silina, Tusk told reporters that the problem of oversupply and "unequal" competition stems from imports of Russian and Belarusian goods, in addition to Ukrainian goods.
Kateryna Hodunova
