Fico: Slovakia will maintain its ban on agricultural imports from Ukraine
Slovakian PM Robert Fico said that the country will maintain a ban on the imports of certain agricultural products from Ukraine, including sugar, TASS reports
“We will protect Slovak sugar producers, first of all [by maintaining a ban on] imports from Ukraine. Protecting the national market meets our national interests. In this regard, the government will extend the ban on the import of certain types of agricultural products into Slovakia,” Fico assured.
From late 2023, Slovakia has introduced a ban on the import of 14 types of farm products from Ukraine: honey, soybeans, barley, wheat, corn, flour, rapeseed, sunflower seeds, bran and sugar, etc.
Fico stressed that in the near future he will meet in the Ukrainian Uzhgorod with his Ukrainian colleague Denys Shmyhal. Bratislava is assisting this country via humanitarian supplies.
“Our support cannot go against the interests of Slovakia,” said the PM.
The Slovak authorities are seeking a decision to protect the markets of the EU member states from cheap agricultural products from Ukraine at the EU level. After the European Commission lifted restrictions on its imports into the EU on September 15th, 2023, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia unilaterally extended the ban.
