The Polish government agreed to meet farmers’ demands on Tuesday as thousands of farmers marched in Warsaw to protest against the European Green Deal and Ukrainian food imports.
Polish farmers continued to call for an end to the EU’s Green Deal policy, which is damaging the agricultural sector, and, most importantly, an end to the influx of cheap Ukrainian food into Poland.
10,000 farmers, according to figures provided by the organisers before the action and confirmed by the city’s mayor, Rafal Trzaskowski, took part in a protest in Warsaw on Tuesday. Andrzej Danielak of the Polish Union of Poultry Breeders and Producers (PZZHiPD) told Euractiv:
“The European agrifood markets need stabilisation to make agricultural production more predictable. Predictability is key.”
Poland had to contend with Ukrainian products flooding its market, driving down prices and demand for domestic products, after the European Commission introduced so-called safety corridors to liberalise trade rules with Ukraine and help the war-torn country continue exporting its food products. One of the protesting farmers told public broadcaster TVP:
“We are under pressure from Ukraine’s supply of agricultural products of all kinds. They have pushed down the prices of our crops so that we are making a loss.”
In addition to cereals, which Poland unilaterally banned from entering the country, other goods included poultry meat, sugar, eggs, frozen berries and apple juice.
Unlike last week’s protests, most demonstrators decided not to bring tractors. The protest movement began at Warsaw’s Palace of Science and Culture and ended at the parliament building.
While most marchers carried the white-and-red national flag, some carried banners reading “Without us, you will be hungry, naked and sober”, a message to city dwellers, and “I am a farmer, not a slave”.
But some banners were openly anti-Ukrainian, with one saying:
“Take care of your family’s health. Don’t eat crap from Ukraine”.
Most protests in Poland are not against the government but against EU policies, unlike protests in Western European countries. The new government of Prime Minister Donald Tusk is firmly on the side of the protesters. Tusk, who visited Prague on Tuesday to attend the Visegrad Group summit, has promised to address farmers’ concerns, including those related to trade with Ukraine. He said after meeting his Czech counterpart Petr Fiala:
“We are realistic about the impact of the (EU’s) free trade decision with Ukraine, which negatively affects our markets.”
Parliament Speaker Szymon Holownia met with protesters in parliament. He acknowledged that the European Green Deal is not working as it should and needs to be addressed, although his own Poland 2050 (Renewal) party supports green policies.
In addition to protests in cities and towns, farmers are also blocking border crossings and main roads leading to the Ukrainian border to prevent lorries carrying Ukrainian products from entering Poland.
