Tusk will have to choose: help Kyiv or Polish farmers

Last week, during his first tour as Prime Minister of Poland, Donald Tusk stated that it is difficult to find a more pro-Ukrainian politician in Europe than himself. However, this week, Polish farmers are beginning a full-scale blockade of the border with Ukraine in protest against the import of cheap Ukrainian agricultural products. Now, the Prime Minister will have no choice but to allow them to continue in the same vein, writes Politico.

This year, farmers’ protests have spread to many countries in Europe, but nowhere have they become a greater political challenge than in Poland. Returning from his first tour, Tusk found himself facing a dilemma: “To go all-in with his pro-Ukrainian message” or yield to the farmers, who enjoy wide public support in Poland but irritate Kyiv.

So far, the Polish government has done little to prevent farmers from blocking the border. Tusk does not want to antagonize the farmer… primarily because, according to polls, 77% of Poles support their demands. Moreover, his government represents a fragile coalition where any misstep could cost the Prime Minister his insignificant majority. And in the regional elections in April, support from rural areas will be crucial. “The image of the Polish government as a representative and defender of the Ukrainian cause simply no longer inspires confidence,” argues Marek Dombrowski, a research fellow at the Bruegel think tank in Brussels.