Hungary joined Poland in saying a halt in Ukrainian agricultural imports, saying that duty-free imports from its neighbor within the face of Russia’s invasion are placing Hungarian farmers in danger.

The suspension will probably be in impact till June 30 “in the absence of substantive EU measures,” the Agriculture Ministry in Budapest stated in a press release. Poland halted imports of grain and another meals merchandise from Ukraine to avert a “crisis of agriculture,” Jaroslaw Kaczynski, chief of the governing Law and Justice social gathering, stated earlier Saturday.

Poland and different neighbors of Ukraine had agreed to assist get grain out of Ukraine and on to international markets after the Russian invasion blocked exports final 12 months. That stance has been shifting as a part of the provision is piling up in japanese Europe, triggering protests by Polish farmers this month.

“If current market trends continued, that would cause serious damage to Hungarian agriculture,” Hungarian Agriculture Minister Istvan Nagy stated within the assertion. Ukraine’s lower-cost agriculture is undercutting Hungarian producers of poultry, eggs, honey, grain and oilseeds, he stated.

Hungary referred to as on the European Union to “consider the full duty-free treatment of Ukrainian goods and the functioning of the solidarity corridors.”

Poland “will keep on supporting Ukraine,” Kaczynski stated at a rally on Saturday. “However, we have a duty to protect our citizens, farmers and avoid a crisis of our agriculture.”

The Polish authorities will conduct a purchase order of grain from native farmers and supply further subsidies for producers, whereas sustaining advantages for purchasing fertilizer, he stated.

Ukraine’s Agriculture Ministry stated the Polish choice violates an settlement reached final week in response to the protests, which stipulates that wheat, corn, sunflower seed and rapeseed from Ukraine could be shipped to Poland so long as it’s then despatched on to different nations by July.

“We understand that Polish farmers are facing a difficult situation, but we are emphasizing, that now the most difficult situation is for Ukraine’s farmers,” the ministry stated on its web site. It proposed to achieve a brand new accord with Poland within the coming days.