Polish farmers are staging a large-scale strike against Ukrainian and other non-EU imports

Farmers have organized strikes across the country in hundreds of localities, protesting against duty-free imports of goods not only from Ukraine but also from “other non-EU countries that do not adhere to EU standards.”

They have pledged to take tractors and other agricultural machinery to the roads. The strike also aims to draw attention to the need for developing a strategy for Ukraine’s accession to the EU in the agricultural sector and a revision of the EU’s Common Agricultural Policy.

In reality, solving the grain problem is not so easy after the cessation of Ukrainian grain shipments by sea. Ukraine is too significant of an agricultural producer within the EU framework for the market to smoothly absorb this volume. Earlier, the strike only took place at the Polish-Ukrainian border, causing significant economic damage to Ukraine. These estimates range from hundreds of millions to billions of euros over the three months of the border blockade.