Poland has classified border crossings with Ukraine and some nearby roads and railways as critical infrastructure in order to deal with mass blockades by farmers protesting against Ukrainian agricultural imports and EU climate policy.
Prime Minister Donald Tusk said the move, made on Feb. 22, is designed to give “a 100 percent guarantee that military and humanitarian aid will reach the Ukrainian side without any delays.”
“It is very important that the Ukrainian side and our allies know that the Polish state is enforcing everything that needs to be done on this issue,” Tusk said during a press conference.
In a bid to placate the farmers, he promised the government would continue to negotiate with Ukraine and the European Commission, as well as make compensation available to farmers. However, he added that the border situation must be dealt with to stop those “taking advantage of the farmers’ protest” and who by supporting Vladimir Putin were “serving Russian propaganda and discrediting the Polish state.”
Tusk’s controversial claims echo comments made by Poland’s Foreign Ministry on Feb. 21, suggesting that some elements within the farmers’ protest may be influenced by “Russian agents” after pro-Putin and anti-Ukrainian banners were displayed.
Tusk’s decision has been criticized by opposition parties, with former Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki from the conservative PiS, pointing out that it will mean “in practice a forcible blockade of the farmers’ protest.”
He accused Tusk of “once again wanting to solve the problem by escalating tension” and appealed to farmers not to give up.
MP Michał Wawer, another opposition party MP from the right-wing Confederation, agreed with PiS, calling Tusk’s decision “an obvious move to allow uniformed services to disperse the farmers’ strike.”
Poland’s prime minister also rejected a proposal by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky for the pair to meet at the border to discuss the crisis, with Tusk saying that talks between the two governments are already scheduled for March.
However, by taking the radical step of unblocking the border crossings, Tusk has in a way answered President Zelensky’s call for the Polish authorities to take action against the protesting farmers.
