Baltic and Finnish farmers send new assistance request to EU

Estonian, Latvian, Lithuanian and Finnish agricultural organizations sent this week a joint letter to European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker and Agriculture Commissioner Phil Hogan, to remind the Commission of the complicated situation of the Baltic states and Finnish agricultural producers who are in difficulties because of Russian sanctions, Estonian Farmers’ Union and the Estonian Chamber of Agriculture and Commerce announced.

The letter emphasizes that although it was the Baltic states and Finland that the sanctions implemented by Russia hit particularly hard, no solution has been found to the situation, despite several formal pledges of imminent support.

Leaders of the farmers’ organizations that signed the letter do not question the European Union’s common political decisions with regard to Russia, but the Commission is called for solidarity and collective action to mitigate the negative and disproportionate effects of the import restrictions on the Baltic countries and Finnish farmers and rural communities.

Due to these extraordinary challenges, the letter repeats earlier calls for the emergency directed aid to agricultural producers in the four countries. The signatories of the letter believe that targeted assistance to the Baltic states and Finnish producers is not preferential treatment. Solidarity is in the current situation in the interests of the entire EU.