What do farmers expect?
The farmers' demands included, among others: the need to simplify and reduce the requirements of the European Green Deal, limit the inflow of agri-food products from Ukraine and improve the profitability of agricultural production.
Clashes with the police
The protest participants walked from the Chancellery of the Prime Minister to the Sejm. There were clashes with the police. Paving stones were thrown at the police, and the services responded with tear gas.
Metropolitan Police Headquarters informed via social media that due to the physical aggression of some people protesting at ul. Wiejska had to use direct coercive measures against police officers. “It should be emphasized that previously these people were asked to behave in accordance with the law,” wrote the capital's police on the X platform.
Com. Małgorzata Wersocka from the capital police told PAP that “the injured policemen are currently in hospital where they are being diagnosed. Their condition is not life-threatening, they generally have bruises and burns.”
Kierwiński: Among the protesters there were provocateurs who attacked the police
Head of the Ministry of Interior and Administration Marcin Kierwiński he told the Sejm that farmers came to Warsaw to protest peacefully. He noted that “there were provocateurs among the protesters who attacked the police and in this situation, the police had to react.”
The Speaker of the Sejm had a similar opinion Szymon Hołownia. “I don't believe that it was done by farmers who actually came here to protest, but the group of protesting farmers was joined by groups of provocateurs, masked people,” he said.
PiS: It's a scandal how farmers were treated by the “December 13 coalition”
According to politicians Law and Justice “It is a scandal how farmers were treated by the +December 13+ coalition. We appeal to the authorities not to disrespect Polish farmers, not to degrade them, but to actually become their defenders, because that's what they are for,” PiS politicians commented on the protest.
“The government is sending armed police equipped with smoothbore weapons. In the past, miners were shot at, today armed police are sent against farmers, foresters, hunters, and trade unionists. This is what the so-called smiling Poland looks like today,” said the MP. PiS Anna Kwiecień.
Minister of Agriculture: The issue of importing goods from Ukraine will be regulated
Minister of Agriculture Czesław Siekierski informed that the issue of import of goods from Ukraine is to be regulated within the framework of bilateral arrangements between Poland and this country. He assured that talks on this matter were far advanced. “There will be quotas, there will be quotas, there will be strict monitoring and we will regulate the situation at the border. There will be supervision over transit,” Siekierski argued. He added that the European Commission “must provide financial support to farmers.”
European Commission proposals
Commissioner for Agriculture Janusz Wojciechowski he said on Wednesday that European Commission next week it will present new legislative proposals to meet the demands of protesting farmers. “It will be a package of solutions that should relieve farmers of all concerns, not so much about the Green Deal, but about its elements that are included in the Common Agricultural Policy,” Wojciechowski said in an interview with RMF.
Spokesman of the European Commission Olof Gill told PAP that “Wojciechowski spoke on his own behalf, which in no way reflects the official position of the EC.” He added that “agriculture, climate policy and the protection of the natural world can go hand in hand. We need both.”
Gill additionally announced that the Commission will soon present proposals aimed at meeting the challenges currently facing farmers in the European Union. (PAP)
