Crucial issues

The Ministers agreed that it was crucial to improve the transit of agri-food products from Ukraine and that, therefore, it was necessary to invest in road and railway infrastructure and to better use the throughput capacity of ports.

The countries also expressed their conviction that, in light of the future accession of Ukraine to the European Union, it was most important to work out systemic solutions and effective tools for the future in order to ensure fair terms of competition and food security. The Ministers agreed that talks should begin already now to determine what Ukraine’s membership in the EU would mean and the consequences which it might have for the common market and the terms of competition.

The position of Poland

“Poland is keen not only to engage in cooperation as part of the five frontline states, but also to expand this cooperation. Therefore, I would like to invite Lithuania to support our measures, also in the long term,” Minister Robert Telus said.

The head of the Polish Ministry of Agriculture stated that the narrative referring only to the bans now in effect on imports from Ukraine was misguided and short-sighted. The problem of agri-food imports from Ukraine is more complex and it cannot be solved by only extending the preventive measures on four cereals after 15 September 2023.

“We need long-term tools at EU level to ensure that farmers in the countries of our region can compete on fair terms with Ukrainian producers,” Minister Robert Telus stressed.

Prospects for cooperation

Lithuania expressed its interest in cooperation with Poland in both the short and long term. Lithuania presented its view that at present the priority should be to improve the transit of agricultural imports from Ukraine and that it could be partly implemented through the ports in the Baltic States.