Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenković mentioned his nation is not going to import Ukrainian grain and didn’t rule out a ban on such imports consistent with Poland, Hungary and Slovakia.
“Croatia’s stance and want is that we’re a transit nation, not a rustic receiving huge quantities of Ukrainian grain that’s cheaper than ours, which might imply our farmers are in bother,” Croatian nationwide broadcaster HINA quoted Plenković as saying.
Kyiv launched legal action on Monday in opposition to the three European Union international locations on the World Trade Organization, over their refusal to drop a ban on Ukrainian agricultural merchandise.
Poland, Hungary and Slovakia applied unilateral bans to guard their home agricultural industries from a surge in low-cost grain exports from Ukraine, defying the European Commission, which final Friday determined to permit Ukrainian grain gross sales throughout the EU.
When requested whether or not Croatia would implement an identical ban, Plenković wouldn’t say, however reiterated that Croatian ports had been at the moment facilitating the passage of Ukrainian grain to 3rd international locations, according to reports.
Croatia provided use of its seaports to Ukraine whereas the latter’s entry to the Black Sea is blocked by Russia, amid the Kremlin’s ongoing conflict.
It shouldn’t be identified how a lot grain has been exported through Croatian ports, however the route is “already popular,” Ukraine’s First Deputy Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko said earlier this month.
