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Poland pressed the EU to extend its Ukrainian grain embargo
Summary
A look back at 13 September 2023, when Warsaw urged Brussels to keep restrictions on Ukrainian farm imports, as a row over asset declarations continued in Kyiv.
What did Poland want from the European Union on 13 September 2023? Its Prime Minister, Mateusz Morawiecki, called on the EU to extend an embargo on imports of Ukrainian corn, wheat, sunflower and rapeseed.
The call concerned four named products, and it was addressed to the EU as a whole rather than to Warsaw's own rules alone. It came during the Russian invasion of Ukraine, as the question of how Ukrainian agricultural exports should reach European markets remained a live political issue between Kyiv and a neighbouring government.
A domestic dispute in Kyiv
In the days before, Ukraine faced a separate political controversy at home. On 8 September 2023, tens of thousands of Ukrainians signed a petition asking President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to veto legislation on asset declarations. Critics believed the law could make it harder to hold officials to account, because it delayed a requirement to declare their assets publicly.
War and elections on the front line
Also on 8 September 2023, Russia said its air defence systems had shot down two Ukrainian drones attempting to attack a polling station in Skadovsk, in Kherson Oblast, while voting was under way in Russia's elections.
Taken together, these reports show the range of pressures on Kyiv in mid-September 2023: a trade dispute with a neighbour, a debate over transparency among officials, and continuing fighting.
