First it was the end of the military aid, then it was the grain products ban, now it’s a truck blockade at the border.
Since late September, when former Prime Minister Robert Fico was reelected in Slovakia, the bilateral relations between this eastern European country and its neighbor Ukraine have changed rapidly and decisively.
Fico’s SMER party won on a leftwing populist platform that promised, among other things, to cut back on support to Ukraine – including the immediate end to all military aid.
But that is not the only area of friction, now. There is also the most relevant issue of the Ukrainian grain export.
The Slovak government will not only extend but also drastically expand the ban on Ukrainian agricultural products.
This was formulated in an Agriculture Ministry proposal that was approved on Nov. 29.
Kyiv Independent reported:
“The government is set to add honey, barley, wheat flour, soybeans, and cane or beet sugar to the list of banned agricultural products.
The ban previously applied to four cereals, namely wheat, corn, rapeseed, and sunflower seeds, and will remain in place until the end of 2023.
The Slovak Agriculture Minister ‘will update this list if necessary, justified by the development of the market situation’, the resolution stated.
The resolution says the ban is necessary due to the ‘absence of a systemic pan-European solution and the unilateral bans of two neighboring countries’, referring to Poland and Hungary.”
Ukraine and Slovakia have agreed on developing a licensing system for the grain trade, which raised hopes Slovakia’s import ban could be lifted.
“The EU initially instituted the import ban on select agricultural products from Ukraine in May 2023 at the request of Poland, Hungary, Slovakia, Romania, and Bulgaria, who feared that the influx of cheaper Ukrainian products would pressure their farmers.”
When the measure expired, Poland, Slovakia, and Hungary continued restrictions on the national level.
And the grain ban, grave as it is, is not the only new point of conflict, as Slovak truckers join forces with Polish ones against Ukrainians hurting their market.
Reuters reported:
“Slovak truckers will block the main border crossing with Ukraine from Friday, the country’s truckers association UNAS said, joining Polish protests to win restrictions against Ukrainian drivers.
[…] Polish and Slovak truckers complain Ukrainian truckers offer cheaper prices for their services and also transport goods within the European Union, rather than just between the bloc and Ukraine.
[…] ‘The purpose of the protest is to join truck carriers from Poland’, UNAS said in a statement on its Facebook page on Wednesday. ‘We cannot leave them alone in the fight’.”
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The post Robert Fico’s Slovakia Is a Source of Problems for Ukraine, Stopping Military Aid and Implementing Protectionist Trade Policies appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.