Polish farmers from the Oszukana Wies (Betrayed Countryside) protest group reinstated their blockade of the Poland-Ukraine border crossing in Medyka on January 4.

The blockade, together with the concurrently running border protest by Polish truckers demanding the new Polish government clamps down on cheap Ukrainian hauliers, has dogged Polish-Ukrainian relations since November.

The government, led by Prime Minister Donald Tusk, must both ease tensions at the border while remaining an effective ally of Ukraine against Russia's aggression.

The protesting farmers seek corn production subsidies, a reduction in agricultural taxes in 2024, and the retention of preferential loans.

Agriculture Minister Czeslaw Siekierski pledged to address these demands before Christmas. In response, the farmers lifted the blockade with a caveat that it might return in early January if the government fails to show that meeting the demands is being implemented.

Despite the minister’s publishing a note on January 3 that work is underway to make sure the demands are now part of the ministry’s policy, the farmers resumed the blockade, arguing the note was not strong enough and did not have Tusk’s signature on it.

The blockade is now set to last until February 3 unless the protesters are satisfied with what the government offers them in terms of guaranteeing to meet their demands.

Polish farmers from the Betrayed Countryside and other protest groups have been at odds with the government – both the Law and Justice (PiS) cabinet ousted in December and the incumbent Tusk cabinet – since last summer.

Farmers fear their businesses will be in trouble without preferential policy tools and the curbing of Ukrainian agriculture imports. 

The protest also presages more tension over agriculture as Ukraine enters EU membership talks, now that it is officially a candidate country.

The very size of Ukraine’s farmland – which is roughly 25% of the EU’s – and the quality of its soil, and the eastern country’s looming membership are prompting calls already for an overhaul of the Common Agricultural Policy, one of the bloc’s cornerstones.