Polish police have opened an investigation into an incident over the weekend in which Polish farmers were accused of stopping three trucks carrying Ukrainian grain at a crossing and dumping the cargo onto the road.
The incident occurred on February 11 near the Yahodyn-Dorohusk border checkpoint as part of a broader protest by Polish farmers against European Union agriculture policies, including those that allow Ukrainian grain to cross into Poland, which the farmers say has lowered prices for their products.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba on February 12 called the incident "unacceptable" and said those did it should be held to account.
"The spoiling of Ukrainian grain on the Polish border is unacceptable. Any farmer should know how much hard work it takes to produce grain, especially during wartime," Kuleba wrote on X, formerly Twitter. "For the sake of friendly Ukrainian-Polish relations, the perpetrators of this provocation must be held to account."
Ukrainian trade representative Taras Kachka said on Facebook the spoiled grain was being transported to Lithuania and that the incident raised concern that violence could break out at the border.
Polish farmers last week announced plans to start a nationwide strike beginning with the blockade of all checkpoints at the border between Poland and Ukraine. The Ukrainian Customs Service last week acknowledged the Polish farmers planned to block or force a slowdown of trucks at three border checkpoints.
Polish Agriculture Minister Czeslaw Siekierski apologized in a statement quoted by Reuters for the grain-dumping action at the Yahodyn-Dorohusk checkpoint and ask for understanding for the Polish farmers' "exceptionally difficult situation."
He described the situation as "tense" and called for dialogue, but organizers of the blockade said last week the opportunity for negotiations with EU officials in Brussels had been exhausted.
The main demands of the Polish farmers include a ban the import of agricultural products from Ukraine and broader changes in the position of the European Union's agricultural policy.
Ukrainians are reacting harshly to the incident, recalling the Holodomor -- the 1932-33 starvation of millions in Ukraine under the policies of Soviet leader Joseph Stalin -- and noting that during the current Russian-Ukrainian war, Ukrainian farmers have been forced to till fields strewn with landmines.
Warsaw has backed Ukraine during Russia's invasion, but relations have soured inside Poland over the surge in grain and food imports from Ukraine, and experts say this will not help end the blockade at the border.
