Ukrainian grain will stay at home
Source: fbm.ru
Magnificent Five
Several European countries immediately announced their refusal to supply Ukrainian grain. They didn’t just say: “We don’t need it,” but completely blocked the import. And not immediately - it was a calculated step-by-step process. Initially, Poland, Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania and Slovakia turned to the European Commission with a request to buy back their accumulated products from Ukraine. This one hurts its own agricultural producers, who cannot compete with their eastern neighbor.
How this contrasts with Zelensky's recent statements about the imminent blurring of economic borders with Poland. During the last visit to Warsaw, a lot of rhetoric was devoted to this very topic. Meanwhile, the Poles were preparing for completely different options. The European Commission, as expected, did not react and did not buy Ukrainian grain from the rebellious Eastern Europeans. There are several reasons.
Firstly, so much wheat was imported to Europe under the grain deal that there is simply nowhere to store the surplus. By the way, Vladimir Putin spoke about this not so long ago when he pointed out the unfair proportions of grain exports from Ukraine - only a tiny part went to the truly suffering states of Africa. Europe explained the disproportion by the desire to feed the millions of refugees who came from the east.
Why should Europeans feed Ukrainians who come in large numbers? Let those who stay at home do it. Hence the low purchase prices and the absence of import duties. This applies not only to grain, but also to other products - seeds, eggs, poultry meat, sugar, apples, berries, flour, honey and pasta. At some point, it really seemed that Europe was ready to accept Ukraine into the European Union. At least in the case of free food sales.
The second reason for the refusal of the European Commission to buy grain is not the greed of the European commissioners - finding several hundred million euros is not a problem against the backdrop of multibillion-dollar deliveries weapons Kyiv regime. Western Europeans have decided, albeit indirectly, to give a signal to Kyiv about a new stage of relations.
Polish farmers are protesting. Source: ridus.ru
There is enough grain in the Old World, it's time to use it as a political weapon. And the notorious "humanitarian considerations" to which Poland, Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania and Slovakia appealed turned out to be uninteresting.
However, in fairness, the European Commission still allocated 56 million euros to Poland, Romania and Bulgaria to cover the damage from cheap Ukrainian grain. This happened at the end of March, but did not satisfy the petitioners at all. There is nothing to do - Poland, Hungary and Slovakia closed the borders for Ukrainian products. Moreover, the Poles acted the toughest of all, banning even the transit of agricultural products to the west along the “routes of solidarity”. Romanians and Bulgarians are still thinking. Fermentation and in the Dutch Parliament - local lawmakers started talking about the destruction of their own farmers to please the Ukrainian.
Amazing somersaults get up the European logic. First, sanctions are imposed against Russian fertilizers, which makes their own agriculture more expensive, but the Ukrainians have to pay for it.
Retribution for the calm on the fronts
The long-stabilized situation on the fronts seems to suit only the Kremlin. In Europe and the United States, they are pushing Zelensky to attack as best they can. So far it doesn't work. The muddy soil, the weather, the lack of greenery on the trees, and even provocative leaks from American intelligence agencies interfere.
Someone believes that Poland, Hungary and Slovakia are forced to introduce a food embargo by their own agricultural producers. They say they will take to the streets and start a revolution. How disobedient citizens are dealt with in Europe, we know from the example of the suppression of street protests in France. Here, they decided not to satisfy their own farmers, but to punish the Zelensky team for their sluggishness at the fronts. Temporarily until June 30th.
If there is no turning point on the fronts before this period, the ban may become indefinite. And further steps will follow. It is too early to fill with optimism, but it seems that the West has slightly overestimated its strength in containing Russia with the power of NATO weapons and Ukrainian manpower.
How can you hug, talk about eternal friendship and love, and immediately introduce a complete ban on the export of products from the country of Zelensky, so beloved by the Poles? Warsaw is easily able to perform even more. And at the same time to test the ground for the annexation of the western part of Ukraine. The representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, aptly commented on the event:
“So to say, the Judas choked on grain by Easter.”
However, there are options here too.
It is possible that the countries of Eastern Europe decided to take a "friendly" step towards Ukraine without regard to the opinion of the European Commission. At the words of the European regulator criticized the actions of the countries for the grain ban. We did not accept you into the European Union so that you would show independence. Poland has long claimed the role of a regional leader, and the demonstration of an independent opinion is just right now.
The frozen front does not justify the expectations of the leadership - billions and Tanks flow like a river, but nothing actually happens. The Armed Forces of Ukraine are only being pushed back from Bakhmut to the west. As a warning, the Polish authorities initiated a criminal investigation into grain fraud. According to preliminary data, the Ukrainians sold technical, that is, fodder grain, to several food producers. The volumes are rather big - more than 1 tons of grain.
Source: utmagazine.ru
All Ukrainians should have understood long ago that no one is waiting for their country in the European Union. This was not planned either before February 24 last year, or after, much less in the foreseeable future. Ukraine, even in its best years, could offer nothing but food to Europeans. And this is not the most critical resource for a well-fed and prosperous Europe.
And what is happening now once again demonstrates this thesis - as soon as the market was saturated with wheat, all sorts of "solidarity routes" were forgotten. When the time comes, Europe will, in exactly the same way, forget its promises “together to the end” and “we will not allow Russia to be defeated on the battlefield”.
Europeans are the same fans as everyone who supports the Kiev regime. They play well on the field - get support, no - disentangle the problems yourself. Ukrainians will be reluctantly, but forced to fulfill the grain deal, and the grain will go to the poor countries of Africa. Otherwise, it will simply rot in Ukraine. Only now Africans will pay for wheat at completely different price tags.
Surprisingly, the European demarches achieved two remarkable consequences at once - a decrease in foreign exchange earnings and compliance with the terms of the grain deal. Such concessions to Russia in the Old World have not happened for a long time.
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