April 18 (SeeNews) - Romania's Social Democrat Party (PSD), a member of the governing coalition, said on Tuesday that it will request from the cabinet to suspend imports of agri-food products from Ukraine in a move to protect local farmers.
At the same time, PSD believes that Romania must continue to support Ukraine by facilitating the transit of Ukrainian agri-food products to other states in the European Union and along the Black Sea routes, PSD said in a press release.
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Also on Tuesday, the Bulgarian Socialist Party said it submitted to parliament a proposal for a six-month ban on imports of wheat, sunflower, dry milk and honey products.
In late March, the European Commission said it is proposing total financial aid of 26.8 million euro ($29 million) to farmers in Bulgaria and Romania, in response to concerns about the negative effect on local markets stemming from higher imports of cereals and oilseeds from Ukraine.
The financial support, to be provided from the EU's agricultural reserve, will consist of payments of 16.75 million euro to Bulgaria and 10.05 million euro to Romania, the Commission said at the time. An additional 29.5 million euro in aid is earmarked for farmers in Poland. The grants may be matched up to 100% by state aid in each of the countries.
($ = 0.927 euro)