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Poles take to internet over Russia apple ban

PR dla Zagranicy
John Beauchamp 31.07.2014 11:07
Following Russia’s announcement to ban the import of Polish fruit and vegetables from 1 August, media-savvy Poles have taken to the internet to protest with the social media hashtag #jedzjablka – ‘eat apples’.

Photo:
Photo: sxc.hu

The flurry of internet activity was prompted by a blog post from business daily Puls Biznesu, which calls Poles to “stand up to Putin” and eat Polish apples and drink Polish cider. English-language Twitter posts have also exclaimed “An apple a day keeps Putin away” as part of the online protest.

“Poland is the largest producer of apples in Europe, with most of them down for export. Half of Polish apples are usually destined for Russia,” the blog post reads, adding that “for [fruit farmers] the closure of [Russia’s] market will be very painful”.

The daily calls for Polish internet users to use the hashtag #jedzjablka as a sign of defiance against the Russian ban, with many people taking to the ‘patriotic’ hashtag in a flash.

Thursday morning’s edition of Puls Biznesu also runs a spread on the online protest, as Tweeted by the daily’s website editor, Przemyslaw Barankiewicz.

Russia fruit ban

From Friday 1 August, Russia is to place a ban on Polish apples, pears, plums, cherries, apricots, peaches, nectarines and quinces. Russian sanitary watchdog Rosselkhoznadzor has also slapped an import ban on cabbage-like plants, including marrows and cauliflowers.

According to Rosselkhoznadzor, in 2013 Russian sanitary inspectors found over 900 cases of infected agricultural produce being imported from Poland, with similar cases being noted this year.

While Russia underlines that the ban must be enforced to protect the health of its citizens, the embargo comes as the EU decided to slap more sanctions on Moscow this week amid the ongoing crisis in eastern Ukraine. (jb)

Source: PAP/pb.pl

tags: apples
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