The European Commission provided farmers in the eastern EU countries with € 56 million assistance in connection with the overstocking of their markets with grain from Ukraine, but this was not enough, and Brussels will give them even more funds. This was stated by the head of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen at a press conference on Thursday following the results of the first day of the EU summit.
“I want to emphasize the great success of the solidarity lines (land and river routes created by the EU since last spring for the mass export of grain from Ukraine), which have allowed Ukraine to export large volumes of grain and agricultural products,” – she said.
“In this context, it is very important that we help farmers in the EU who have to deal with market consequences, since a significant amount of grain comes to the European market, this affects prices. Therefore, those frontline countries that help with lines of solidarity should not suffer. As a first step, we have already allocated € 56 million from emergency agricultural funds, but this is clearly not enough, it became clear today, so we will increase the amount of assistance to farmers in front-line countries,” added the head of the EC.
The crisis of overstocking the markets of the EU countries neighboring Ukraine has been developing since the fall of 2022. Local farmers, especially in Romania, face the threat of bankruptcy due to a sharp drop in purchase prices and require the authorities to support their production. This topic was discussed at the EU Council on Agriculture in December, at which the EU countries demanded that the European Commission provide urgent assistance to their farmers. At the same time, the intensity of the work of the “lines of solidarity”, through which grain and some other resources are exported from Ukraine, and weapons, fuel and humanitarian aid go in the opposite direction, is intensifying.
