Poland pushes EU to ban food imports from Russia and Belarus

Poland will call on the European Commission to impose a full ban on imports of food products from Russia and Belarus in a bid to increase the region’s security and protect farmers, Prime Minister Donald Tusk said. 

“I am convinced that a joint European decision will be more efficient than individual decisions of countries in the region,” Tusk said during a joint press conference with his Lithuanian counterpart, Ingrida Simonyte, on Monday in Vilnius, adding that he would put forward a parliamentary resolution. 

Lithuania would support an EU-wide initiative to ban Russian agricultural goods, Simonyte said, as the premiers discussed security issues in light of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. 

“Food is just as important as security issues,” Tusk said. 

Poland’s imports of food products from Russia amounted to €350 million in 2023, well below the €1.7 billion in imports from Ukraine, according to official data. Russian imports included mostly fish, oil plants and fats. 

The plan to ban imports from Russia and Belarus is a part of Warsaw’s response to demands of protesting farmers, who have condemned what they call the uncontrolled influx of agricultural goods from Ukraine — and called for an overhaul of the European Union’s climate agenda.  

Tusk will send the European Commission his proposal this week on how to modify the EU’s Green Deal to alleviate its impact on farmers.   

“We have views that tell us to act to protect the climate,” Tusk said. “But we also find in the Green Deal provisions that are not fully relevant to the real problems faced by the EU.”