Polish farmers on tractors blocked many roads across the country on Wednesday, protesting against the European Green Deal, EU policies that damage local agriculture, and an influx of Ukrainian food products, Euractiv reports.
Deputy Agriculture Minister Stefan Krajewski said that the protests were aimed at Brussels, not Warsaw. Polish farmers are demanding that trade restrictions with Ukraine be reintroduced to prevent Ukrainian food products from flooding the Polish market. The protesters also oppose European Green Deal measures that restrict their business. He said at a press conference:
“We understand these protests, which are not targeted at the Polish government, but at the restrictions imposed by Brussels on farmers.”
He believes that the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) should be revised so that it does not put so much pressure on Polish farmers. He also added that the protests should have started even earlier, when the National Strategic Plan for the new, reformed CAP was being prepared and when the rules related to the European Green Deal were created. He noted:
“The protests are at least a year overdue.”
Another Deputy Minister, Michał Kołodziejczak, told the private RMF FM radio on Wednesday morning, adding that the demands of the Polish farmers are right:
“EU policy has gone to a dead end.”
He believes the mass farm protests that have swept across the bloc are a warning to Brussels. Kołodziejczak said:
“If the existing regulations, including the Green Deal and the eco-schemes, are not renegotiated, I suspect that the anger in Europe may be even greater.”
