Polish farmers staged a mass protest and threw eggs at the European Commission office in the western city of Wroclaw on Thursday, state news agency reported.
Organisers said there were about 1,000 protesters, 500 tractors, and other farm vehicles at the demonstration. Monika Dubec, a spokesperson at Wroclaw City Hall, said:
“The protest started at 10 a.m., at around 10:10 or 10:15 it was broken up by the organisers, they asked the people to disperse.”
Footage from the private TV channel TVN24 showed demonstrators marching through the streets carrying Polish flags, banners and in some cases flares. The farmers gathered in front of the regional government headquarters, where they lit a large bonfire with smoke billowing into the air. Despite organisers asking them to disperse, the protest continued.
Polish farmers are planning a complete blockade of all border crossings with Ukraine and a large-scale protest in the capital Warsaw on 20 February.
Farmers across Europe are protesting against restrictions imposed on them by the EU climate change measures, as well as against price rises and what they see as unfair competition from foreign producers, particularly Ukraine.
