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Poland's grain ban call and Kyiv's asset petition
Summary
A look back at two political pressures on Ukraine as they stood in the days around 13 September 2023.
What pressures were bearing on Ukraine's politics on 13 September 2023? One came from a neighbour, the other from its own citizens.
On 13 September 2023, Poland's Prime Minister, Mateusz Morawiecki, called on the European Union to extend an embargo on imports of Ukrainian corn, wheat, sunflower and rapeseed. The appeal placed trade in farm goods at the centre of relations between Warsaw and Kyiv, in the middle of Russia's full-scale invasion.
A petition at home
A few days earlier, on 8 September 2023, tens of thousands of Ukrainians had signed a petition asking President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to veto legislation on asset declarations. Critics believed the law could make it harder to hold officials accountable, because it delayed a requirement to declare their assets publicly.
The petition was part of a wider debate on corruption in Ukraine. The objection was specific: postponing public declarations, in the critics' view, weakened a tool for scrutinising officials.
War in the background
The war framed all of this. 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 Russian-organised elections.
Two tests
Taken together, the items show that on 13 September 2023 Ukraine faced demands on two fronts. Abroad, a neighbouring government sought to keep restrictions on its agricultural exports. At home, a large number of citizens pressed the president on transparency for officials. Both tested how Kyiv handled its relationships, with partners and with its own public, while the fighting continued.
