The Polish Minister Agriculture Henryk Kowalczyk resigned on Wednesday 5 April in the wake of a wave of protests by farmers over the massive increase in imports of Ukrainian agricultural products into the country.
Mr Kowalczyk said he decided to resign because the European Commission would not agree to reimpose tariffs and taxes on Ukrainian grain imports, a measure his ministry had been calling for since December 2022, despite initial opposition from the country’s leadership.
“As it is very clear that the farmers’ request will not be accepted by the European Commission, I have taken the decision to resign as Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development”, he said in a statement.
He will be replaced by Robert Telus, who chairs the Polish parliament’s agriculture committee.
The resignation comes after Poland and four other countries bordering Ukraine sent a letter to the Commission calling for measures to mitigate the effects of the increase in Ukrainian agricultural imports, including the restoration of tariffs on Ukrainian grain imports (see EUROPE 13155/8).
The Commission is considering a second support package of €75 million for these five countries which are suffering from the impact of increased imports of Ukrainian agricultural products (see EUROPE 13153/3). (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)