For several days, farmers in Poland have been protesting against, among others, introducing the Green Deal and inflow of goods from Ukrainebecause – in their opinion – agricultural production became unprofitable.
The head of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development understands farmers’ demands
“As Minister of Agriculture, I have clearly stated that farmers are protesting for a just cause. Their arguments, their demands – they are right. However, of course we can discuss the form of the protest,” the Minister of Agriculture said on TVN24 on Friday.
An appeal to farmers
“I appeal to farmers to do so the protests were as least disruptive to society as possibleotherwise they will not gain recognition for their rightful reasons,” said the minister.
Burning tires in Wrocław
When asked how he assessed what happened in Wrocław on Thursday, he replied: “I think it was a bit exaggerated. Although agricultural protests they always have this very clear and sharp expression.” He admitted that he was not calm about what was happening in Wrocław. “I try to understand the conditions, I know these conditions. Farmers are determined because their situation is exceptionally difficult. That’s why maybe these emotions dominated,” Siekierski pointed out.
Farmers on Thursday for a few hours they protested in front of the voivodeship office in Wrocław. Tires were burned, pyrotechnics were used, and eggs were thrown at the building. The “Solidarity with Ukraine” poster was doused with red paint. The protesters did not follow police orders, but there were no serious incidents.
Protests announced
The head of the Ministry of Agriculture was asked what exactly he intended to do to prevent this from happening announced protests for February 20when it is planned road blockade in Polandand on February 27, when farmers are supposed to come to Warsaw.
Conversation in progress
The minister said that he was conducting dialogue and talks on various fronts. “We are in constant contact with farmers. We take the demands and what farmers want to convey very seriously and what is the reason for their dissatisfaction,” Siekierski pointed out. He added that they are also ongoing talks with the European Commission among others regarding the Green Deal and with Ukraine at the bilateral level.
He announced that he would also talk to the Minister of Agriculture of Ukraine on Friday. As he explained, Poland proposes quotas for sensitive goods among others for sugar, poultry, eggs, soft sheep. “We refer to the period before the war and we also take into account a certain increase, but we analyze the situation in such a way that it does not harm the Polish market,” he pointed out. He added that raspberries are also a problem. “There were so many frozen raspberries last year that we don’t have to produce anything next year. So this is a problem,” he emphasized. In his opinion, in this case there will definitely be a “full restriction”.
Not only in Poland
Farmers’ protests they have been going on for several weeks in many European countries, among others in Germany, France, Italy, Greece, the Czech Republic and Hungary. Farmers are protesting against low prices of agricultural products, the European Green Deal and cheap imports of agricultural products from outside the European Union.
author: Aneta Oksiuta
