Bulgarian farmers protest Ukrainian imports

PERNIK, Bulgaria — Farmers across Bulgaria protested Monday after the government lifted a ban on food products from Ukraine, complaining that the move will cause an influx that drives down prices for local growers.

Hundreds of farmers around the country converged in their tractors, many of them waving national flags and honking horns as they blockaded main roads and disrupted traffic to express their anger.

The protest follows a decision Thursday by Bulgarian lawmakers to allow imports from Ukraine to resume, saying the ban had deprived the government of tax revenue and led to higher food prices.

A day later, the European Union also decided not to renew the overall ban on Ukrainian food heading to five member countries.

Poland, Hungary and Slovakia have since unilaterally imposed their own blockades, threatening European unity on support for Ukraine against Russia’s invasion.

The rising tensions come after Russia halted a U.N.-brokered agreement last month to guarantee safe shipments of Ukrainian grain through the Black Sea to parts of the world struggling with hunger.

It has left more expensive road, rail and river routes through Europe as largely the only way for Ukraine, a major global agricultural supplier, to export its food products, though there has been some limited ship movements to its ports.

Bulgaria’s National Association of Grain Producers said in a statement Sunday before the protests that farmers are facing “unprecedented difficulties” and called for a ban on a litany of food products from Ukraine. These include sunflower, wheat, corn and rapeseed, meat, fruits and vegetables, milk, honey and dairy products.

The EU said “the market distortions” created by Ukrainian grain have disappeared.

But farmers in the five member countries, including Romania, still complain that a glut of Ukrainian products is hurting their livelihoods.