Brussels, Belgium | AFP | Friday
Twelve EU countries including France and Germany are urging Brussels why it is giving tens of millions in financial aid to member states which blocked Ukrainian grain imports.
They said the money, given to Poland, Hungary, Slovakia and Bulgaria to convince them to lift their blockages, risked undermining Europe’s single market and encouraging EU member countries to demand “differentiated treatment” in future.
The group, in a letter dated May 10 and seen by AFP, said the EU’s other members were not consulted about this decision by the European Commission, which they accused of “lack of transparency”.
They also rounded on the eastern EU countries that had imposed the import blockages to protect their own farmers from a surplus of Ukrainian grain that was driving down local prices.
“It is imperative to ensure that the European Union is united and that our differences do not play into Russia’s hands,” they said.
The letter was also signed by Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Denmark, Estonia, Greece, Ireland, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Slovenia.
The European Union has facilitated imports of grain from Ukraine to alleviate export problems that country has because of Russia’s invasion.
Last year, Russia agreed to a UN-brokered deal to allow some Ukrainian grain to be shipped out on its usual Black Sea route, but volumes remained throttled and significant amounts still need to be sent through Europe by rail.
In March, the European Commission gave 56.3 million euros ($61 million) to the eastern EU countries bordering Ukraine that complained of the price pressure on their farmers, and followed up in April with another 100 million euros.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Tuesday slammed the restrictions on his country’s grain exports imposed by those countries, calling them “completely unacceptable”.
The commission said it would respond to the letter from the 12 EU countries.
“We are of course going to present… our arguments on why we believed it was necessary to put on the table the package of measures we proposed,” commission spokesman Dana Spinant said.
© Agence France-Presse
