Farmers across Romania protest against Ukrainian grain imports

Protesters used tractors and trucks to block traffic and border crossings in many places, and called on the European Commission (EC) to intervene to resolve the problem.

Romanian farmers protest against Ukrainian grain imports. (Source: abcNews)

According to VNA correspondents in Central and Eastern Europe, on April 7, thousands of Romanian farmers participated in protests across the country to protest the decline in grain purchasing prices due to imports from Ukraine.

Protesters used tractors and trucks to block traffic and border crossings in many places, and called on the European Commission (EC) to intervene to resolve the problem.

Growing dissatisfaction among farmers in Central and Eastern Europe with cheap Ukrainian grain, which is exempted from import duties into the European Union (EU) until June 2024, has caused grain prices for local farmers to plummet.

In the Romanian capital Bucharest, about 200 farmers protested in front of the European Commission offices, carrying banners reading "We respect EU rules, but the EU ignores us" or "Stability for Romanian farmers."

“We are talking about unfair competition within the European community,” said Nicu Vasile, head of the Romanian agricultural union LAPAR. “I know our Ukrainian colleagues also need to sell, but it is unfair competition.”

According to him, the cost of growing wheat in Romania has increased by 70% compared to the same period last year.

The ports of Ukraine, one of the world's largest grain exporters, have been blockaded since fighting broke out in late February 2022.

Ukraine has sought alternative routes through Poland and Romania to export grain.

However, millions of tonnes of grain, which is cheaper than grain produced in the EU, are distributed to neighbouring markets when they should be exported outside the bloc.

Polish Agriculture Minister Henryk Kowalczyk recently resigned in protest at the decision to continue tax exemptions on Ukrainian grain.

Farmers in Poland and Bulgaria have also held protests in recent days.

Last week, the Prime Ministers of Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, Bulgaria and Romania, in a letter to EC President Ursula von der Leyen, proposed restoring tariffs and quotas on Ukrainian agricultural products in case the influx of these products causes a price drop on the EU market.

The Czech Republic's Ministry of Agriculture announced on April 6 that from February 2022 to January this year, the amount of wheat imported from Ukraine to EU countries was 10 times higher than in the same period last year.

The EC estimates that farmers in Poland, Romania, Hungary, Bulgaria and Slovakia have lost a total of €417 million due to the influx of cheaper Ukrainian grain.

The EU executive body decided to pay 56.3 million euros in compensation to farmers in Poland, Bulgaria and Romania./.

According to Ngoc Bien (Vietnam News Agency/Vietnam+)

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