New Delhi: Amid a row over grain exports from Ukraine, Poland’s Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki told Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky never to “insult Poles again” after the latter said his neighbour was putting up a “political theatre” over the mounting dispute, news agency Reuters reported. Taking a veiled dig at Poland at the United Nations’ general assembly earlier this week, Zelensky had said that the dispute was “political theatre” and that “some of our friends in Europe” have “made a thriller from the grain.”
"I... want to tell President Zelenskiy never to insult Poles again, as he did recently during his speech at the U.N.," Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said at an election rally on Friday, as reported by Reuters.
“The Polish people will never allow this to happen, and defending the good name of Poland is not only my duty and honour, but also the most important task of the Polish government,” PM Morawiecki further said.
However, in a bid to defuse the situation, Polish President Andrzej Duda asserted that the grain import row should not significantly impact their overall positive bilateral relations and expressed confidence that the matter could be resolved through direct dialogue, Al Jazeera reported. He also said that PM Morawiecki’s remarks were “interpreted in the worst possible way.”
It is to be noted that the timing of this dispute is crucial as Poland is set to hold its parliamentary elections on October 15 and Morawiecki’s ruling nationalist Law and Justice party has been slammed by the far-right over its perceived subservience to Kyiv, the Al Jazeera reported stated.
Tensions between the two countries, which were close allies previously and united against Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, have been rising over a ban on Ukrainian grain. The ban was put in place by several EU nations in order to protect the livelihood of local farmers wary of being undercut by low price of Ukrainian grain.