Polish conservatives have sharply criticised the EU’s decision to reduce tariffs on Ukrainian agricultural products, warning that it will “crush” farmers in Poland and other countries already struggling with an influx of cheap imports.
Speaking to Radio Wnet on Wednesday, October 15th, MP Zbigniew Kuźmiuk said the European Council’s move, approved on Monday, “delivers another powerful blow to Polish agriculture” and risks flooding local markets with low-cost produce from large Ukrainian farming conglomerates.
This is another form of aid for Ukraine—in this case, for agriculture. But this is not Ukrainian family farming; it is large international corporations cultivating hundreds of thousands of hectares. No country in Europe can compete with that.
Kuźmiuk warned that most of these agricultural goods will end up in Poland, given their shared borders, with smaller volumes reaching Slovakia and Hungary. “If we add to this the Mercosur agreement that is being finalised, Polish agriculture will find itself in a ‘crush zone’,” he said.
The European Council’s decision marks the first major update to the EU-Ukraine free trade agreement since its entry into force in 2016. It removes or lowers tariffs on dozens of Ukrainian agri-food products, expanding duty-free quotas for many items—including dairy products, fresh fruit and vegetables, meat, and meat preparations.
The Danish foreign minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen, whose country currently holds the rotating EU presidency, defended the move:
Today’s decision reaffirms the EU’s unwavering and multifaceted support for Ukraine, after three years of Russia’s unprovoked and unjustified military aggression. … Both the EU and Ukraine will benefit from the elimination of customs duties, leading to sustained economic stability, enduring trade relations, and further Ukrainian integration with the Union.
Yet farmers in Central and Eastern Europe—particularly in Poland, Slovakia, and Hungary—argue they are paying the price. These frontline states, which share borders with Ukraine, have seen their markets destabilised in recent years due to a surge of cheap grain, poultry, honey, and other goods from across the border.
This was possible due to the abolition of trade restrictions between 2022 and June 2025 to facilitate Ukraine’s agricultural exports, whose main trading routes through the Black Sea were blocked by Russia. In recent years, there have been protests and blockades led by farmers and truckers in neighbouring countries against increased quantities of Ukrainian products.
The lower production costs and laxer environmental and labour standards in Ukraine make its products significantly cheaper than those produced under EU rules.
The latest trade deal also coincides with mounting concerns over the EU’s next long-term budget. Lawmakers from several member states have warned that Brussels’ financial priorities now appear to favour Ukraine over the EU’s own citizens.
Danish MEP Anders Vistisen recently told a European Parliament conference that Ukraine could absorb nearly a third of the EU’s Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) funding if admitted to the bloc, forcing “an increase in the EU budget of at least 21% or 24%. And Brussels will not pay; it will be our citizens, businesses, and taxpayers.”
French MEP Gilles Pennelle said that France would be particularly affected: “Ukraine has more arable land than France, with much lower production costs. If they enter the market without real harmonization, French farmers will not survive. We would be sacrificing the CAP on the altar of geopolitics.”
