Polish officials: There are many issues between the two countries that have not yet reached "mutual understanding", and the relationship between Poland and Ukraine is tense. Ukraine | Poland | Both countries
Recently, due to Poland's demand to maintain the ban on Ukrainian agricultural products and officials expressing gratitude for Poland's assistance, the relationship between Poland and Ukraine has become increasingly tense. On August 1st, due to controversy over the statements made by Polish officials, both Poland and Ukraine summoned each other's ambassadors.
According to multiple foreign media outlets such as Bloomberg and TASS on August 2nd, Polish Foreign Policy Advisor Pzdach defended the country's decision to impose a ban on some agricultural products in Ukraine in an interview with Polish media on July 31st, stating that Poland's move was to safeguard its own interests, and that Ukraine should be "grateful" for the large amount of assistance Poland had previously provided. This statement immediately sparked strong dissatisfaction from the Ukrainian side and made the relationship between Poland and Ukraine increasingly tense.
On August 1st, the Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs summoned the Polish ambassador on this matter. Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Nikolanko said that the remarks made by Ukrainians who are ungrateful and do not appreciate Poland's assistance are not in line with reality, so Przydach's remarks are "unacceptable". Subsequently, the Polish side also announced the summoning of the Ukrainian ambassador in response to Ukraine's actions.
On the same day, Polish Prime Minister Morawitzki wrote on the social platform that, considering the "huge assistance" Poland provided to Ukraine in the Russia-Ukraine conflict, Ukraine should not make the "mistake" of summoning Polish ambassadors, and "the interests of any other country will not override Poland's interests". Ukrainian President Zelensky called for calm on social media and stated that "no political events are allowed to damage the relationship between the two peoples.".
On August 2nd, Polish Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Jablonsky once again responded to this matter on a radio program, stating that Ukraine has recently "shown some emotions" and that the relationship between Poland and Ukraine "is not at its best level". Jablonsky said, "We sympathize with Ukraine, but you cannot treat your allies in this way. There are still many issues between Poland and Ukraine that have not reached mutual understanding."
The current dispute between Poland and Ukraine stems from the ban imposed by Central and Eastern European countries on some agricultural products in Ukraine. After the conflict between Russia-Ukraine conflict, the EU and the United Nations opened a number of land transport routes through Central and Eastern Europe to ensure that the export of Ukrainian food will not be affected. But low-priced Ukrainian agricultural products have had an impact on the local market, causing dissatisfaction among farmers. In May this year, the European Commission announced temporary restrictions on the free trade of four Ukrainian agricultural products in Poland, Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania, and Slovakia. After the expiration of the Black Sea Food Agreement, the five aforementioned countries immediately announced the signing of a joint position document on July 19th, calling on the European Union to extend the ban on Ukrainian agricultural products until the end of this year.
In response, Ukrainian President Zelensky called on the European Union to lift the ban on Ukrainian agricultural products before September 15th, stating that this ban is "not European". Ukrainian Prime Minister Shmigar stated that Poland's position on this issue is "unfriendly and populist.".
