Farmers in Poland protest Green Deal
Thousands of Polish farmers protested outside the prime minister’s office on Wednesday, burning tyres and throwing firecrackers as they demanded a halt to cheap imports and environmental regulations they say harm their livelihoods.
Some of the protesters carried a coffin bearing a sign saying “Farmer, lived 20 years, killed by the Green Deal” as they thronged the street, blowing horns and holding Polish flags aloft before they plan to march on parliament.
Elsewhere in the country, they blocked roads. Television footage showed tractors on the outskirts of Warsaw being stopped from entering the city.
Farmers across the EU have been calling for changes to restrictions placed on them by the bloc’s Green Deal to tackle climate change and for customs duties on imports of agricultural products from Ukraine that were waived after Russia’s invasion to be reimposed.
In Poland, this has created a delicate balancing act for Donald
Tusk’s government in a year in which it faces both local and European elections, as it seeks to address farmers’ concerns while also maintaining its staunch support for Kyiv.
The farmers, who were making good on their promise to return to Warsaw after thousands of them marched through the city a week earlier, are now backed by Poland’s biggest labour union NSZZ Solidarnosc.
“Miners, steel workers, automotive, food industry and many other industries are here,” union leader Piotr Duda said, addressing protesters in front of Tusk’s office. “The most important thing is that we are together, because we have one common demand: down with the Green Deal, down with the green venom,” he said.
Tusk has said that market disruptions were not only caused by agricultural products from Ukraine, but also those from Russia and its ally Belarus. On Monday he said Poland planned to ask the EU to ban imports of agricultural products from Russia and Belarus.
The prime minister has invited farmers’ leaders for talks on Saturday.