Poland’s Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki appealed to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Friday 22 September not to “insult” Poles, taking a tough stance after an unsuccessful attempt to defuse a dispute over grain imports.
Last week, Poland decided to extend the ban on imports of Ukrainian grain, which negatively affected the relations between the two nations. Poland’s leader considers his country one of Kyiv’s staunchest supporters since Russia entered the territory of Ukraine in February last year.
Zelensky caused a storm of indignation when he told the UN General Assembly in New York that Kyiv was trying to preserve land routes for grain exports, but the “political theatre” surrounding the situation was only helping Moscow.
At an election rally, Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki stated:
I… want to tell President Zelensky never to insult Poles again, as he did recently during his speech at the UN.
Poland will hold parliamentary elections on 15 October. Morawiecki’s ruling nationalist Law and Justice (PiS) party has been criticised by the far right for what it says is indulging the Ukrainian government.
Analysts believe the criticism has forced PiS to take a tougher stance against Kyiv in order to retain its majority. Earlier on Friday, President Andrzej Duda, a PiS ally, told a business conference:
“I have no doubt that the dispute over the supply of grain from Ukraine to the Polish market is an absolute fragment of the entire Polish-Ukrainian relations.”
He also claimed that the dispute over Ukrainian grain imports would not affect good bilateral relations between Poland and Ukraine.
I don’t believe that it can have a significant impact on them, so we need to solve this matter between us.
