Gabrielius Landsbergis is a member of the European Council on Overseas Relations. He was Lithuania’s minister for overseas affairs from 2020 to 2024.
After Russia’s full-scale invasion, one of many first methods the West helped Ukraine was by permitting de facto entry to the EU single market. By doing so, the bloc may stimulate desperately wanted money movement and hold Ukrainian corporations alive via the brutal years of battle.
And but, regardless of the continued hostilities, that emergency measure was revoked on June 6, 2025. Ukrainian companies now stand to lose billions.
To melt the blow, the European Fee has proposed quotas extra beneficiant than these in place earlier than the battle. However there are voices in Europe opposing even that: Beneath stress from farmers demanding safety towards Ukrainian imports, the agriculture ministers of Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia lately issued a joint declaration, urging the Fee to scrap its plans of extending free commerce preparations with Ukraine, and calling for a return to prewar ranges of protectionism.
If carried out, this proposal would imply the short-term upkeep of upper worth ranges for EU farmers of sure crops, in addition to a chance for these governments to trumpet their heroic efforts towards an unjust Brussels. After all, I totally perceive why politicians on the nationwide stage would reply to their farmers’ calls for, however it appears to me that the farmers themselves are those who would lose probably the most if their calls for had been met.
The efforts to more and more “different” Ukraine will solely weaken the nation’s means to defend itself. And if Ukraine falls, Russia’s subsequent transfer would, undoubtedly, be unhealthy for the EU — and particularly unhealthy for Jap Europe’s farmers.
Think about the truth that if Russian President Vladimir Putin had been to invade the EU’s east, farmers could be the primary to have their lives destroyed, their property stolen. They’re nearer the border, and the roads to the large cities lower straight via their land.
Lest we overlook, through the first days of the battle, it was Ukraine’s farmers who had been pulling damaged tanks off their fields. And take a look at the state of Donbas farms now: bombed, polluted, poisoned, flooded, coated in fiber-optic cables from drones, devoid of timber and wildlife, filled with mines and susceptible to being handed over to the Kremlin “for peace.”
If I used to be a farmer, I might due to this fact contemplate any battle inside 1,000 kilometers to be instantly related to the survival of my household and enterprise. And I might demand that my authorities do all the pieces in its energy to finance and arm the defenders’ facet.
Metropolis folks, for his or her half, would possibly assume it sufficient to deal with their very own nation’s protection and deal with stopping enemies from crossing their precise borders. I perceive that mindset — particularly if that border is distant, leaving a psychological buffer zone. Additionally, cities historically turn into fortresses in wartime, defending these operating from invaded fields being pillaged.
It logically follows that farmers would wish to assist Ukraine’s defenders as a lot as attainable — in order that Putin’s tanks are halted lots of of kilometers, not lots of of meters, away. I presume no one needs to be left caught in a village, ready for their very own military to save lots of them from changing into the subsequent Bucha.
And but, that’s the entire foundation of the “not our battle” concept — that one ought to solely react to aggression when it’s too late to cease it, i.e. after it’s already begun. And when aggression does start, it tends to hit the invaded nation’s farmers first, even when their authorities has spent loads on protection.
To defend “each inch” of its farmland, a rustic should mission energy far past its borders, doubtless with the assistance of a community of trustworthy allies, not ready to see the whites of its enemy’s eyes. What Bulgarian, Hungarian, Polish and Slovakian farmers want most is a big navy drive combating and dying for them lots of of kilometers to the east, in order that their very own farms aren’t at risk of being rendered ineffective by battle.
And what luck! That’s precisely what they have already got in Ukraine. So, maybe the Fee ought to ask why they’d act towards the beneficiant suppliers of their safety?
One significantly egregious declare the agriculture ministers made is that Ukraine’s produce should be stored out of the EU to defend the pursuits of “frontline Member States.” As a Lithuanian, I agree that the pursuits of “frontline” international locations ought to be prioritized — however I believe there are greater than 4 of us. I might additionally say that the nationwide pursuits of all “frontline” international locations are aligned. We, greater than anybody else, would profit from the quickest attainable Ukrainian victory and subsequent strengthening of the rules-based system, which permits our smaller nations to exist in peace.
Plus, the easy reality is none of us are frontline states — but.
We shouldn’t be stealing valor from these truly doing the combating. Ukraine is the one actual frontline nation, and if Putin isn’t stopped there, there’s a powerful chance he’ll proceed elsewhere — although most likely not in any of the 4 international locations that simply claimed the “frontline” label. In actual fact, in line with probably the most dependable assessments, my nation is more likely to turn into a frontline state than, say, Hungary.
So, I wish to categorical my robust solidarity with the plight of the unbombed farmers of Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia. I want to assist defend their companies from failure. My pursuits are aligned with theirs. We face the identical enemy. And I don’t wish to see them remorse prioritizing short-term income over medium-term existence.
To me, it merely makes extra sense for farmers — and for everyone else — if Ukraine is welcomed into the EU and handled as a good friend and equal, not shunned as an outsider.
Farmers are, understandably, demanding safeguards and compensation, to allow them to guarantee a easy transition to a mutually useful end result. And I wholeheartedly agree that is what ought to occur. Nonetheless — and I’m positive the Fee is aware of this — the environment friendly and honest option to obtain that’s by accepting Ukraine as a full EU member.
Along with offering a ready-made negotiation framework, wouldn’t or not it’s an enormous nationwide safety benefit to have Ukraine totally built-in and on our facet? Don’t Jap Europe’s farmers need the closest attainable alliance with the nation that’s conserving the Muscovites off their land? Ought to they not, maybe, contemplate asking their governments to speed up accession talks and ship extra ammo?
Bringing Ukraine into the fold doesn’t imply bringing the battle nearer, it means pushing the EU’s weight and monetary energy eastward to the precise entrance line, supporting these defending our dams from being detonated, conserving the horrors of battle as removed from us as attainable, and serving to guarantee not one of the japanese flank international locations turn into frontline states.
If the unbombed farmers of Jap Europe select to argue for a weaker Ukraine, they’re at risk of changing into turkeys voting for Christmas.