Polish farmers dissatisfied after occupying agriculture ministry

Protesting Polish farmers left the Agriculture Ministry building which they had occupied since Tuesday, frustrated that the government had not responded adequately to their demands, including the halting of Ukrainian grain and sugar transit through Poland.

Spending the night in the ministry building, the farmers had demanded a meeting with Prime Minister Donald Tusk, claiming that the promises the government had made so far were unsatisfactory. By Wednesday, most had left the building without having spoken to Tusk.

“The Ukrainian transit was supposed to be halted, but the grain still passes through Poland. There were supposed to be changes in the Green Deal, and there are no changes,” said Wiesław Gryn of the Zamość Agricultural Society, as quoted by Rzeczpospolita.

Over the past few months, farmers in Poland have been protesting against the European Green Deal and the massive influx of Ukrainian agricultural products, which has led to a fall in demand and prices for domestic production.

The protests have included demonstrations in the streets, at politicians’ homes, and blockades at the border with Ukraine.

Farmers negotiated with ministry representatives, including Minister Czeslaw Siekierski, until late on Tuesday before going on strike.

“We have not been offered any concrete proposals. We are going on a sit-in strike and staying at the ministry so that we can talk to the Prime Minister (…) and establish (together) a certain action plan,” Tomasz Obszański of the Rural Solidarity movement, one of the protests’ main organisers, told the movement’s media.

After more than 24 hours, most of the farmers left the ministry on Wednesday afternoon without talking to Tusk. They claimed that the government had not kept its promises to stop imports from Ukraine.

“We were counting on the government to solve the problem, but it is ignoring everything,” Roman Kondrów of the Deceived Village (Oszukana Wieś) movement said on Wednesday, as quoted by the private TVN24 broadcaster.

The protests will continue, the farmers said, but in a different form. Instead of blocking roads, the protesters would demonstrate at the offices of MPs, AgroFakt reported on Wednesday.

Remedy measures 

Ukrainian grain and other food products, including poultry, sugar, eggs, frozen raspberries and apple juice, have flooded the Polish market after the Commission suspended trade barriers with Ukraine in mid-2022 to facilitate Ukrainian exports, hampered by the Russian invasion.

After the Commission refused to prolong the temporary import restrictions of Ukrainian grain, imposed in response to the concerns by Poland and other neighbouring countries, the previous conservative PiS (ECR) government introduced a unilateral import ban, which the current ruling coalition led by Tusk maintained after coming to power.

As for the Green Deal, contrary to what Gryn said, the Commission has presented a proposal for changes to the CAP component, in particular, the GAEC standards.

The package, unveiled last month, included easing some environmental requirements and giving member states more flexibility in implementing the policy. It was approved by the Council of the EU last week, paving the way to its swift adoption.

However, many farmers are calling for the Green Deal to be scrapped altogether, warning that the rules, which they were made without consulting them, will kill European agriculture.

“The Green Deal is a strictly political project in which the main burden related to the green transition would be placed on the agricultural sector,” Jacek Zarzecki of the Polish Association of Beef Cattle Breeders and Producers told Euractiv.

The EU Greens have another point of view.

“If the farmers want subsidies, their production must fulfil certain standards, and this is what the Green Deal serves, among other things,” Dutch MEP Bas Eickhout (Greens/EFA) said when asked by Euractiv about the Polish farmers’ protests.

On grain, Tusk’s cabinet has talked with Kyiv about solving the problem, including during last week’s intergovernmental consultations.

Tusk also announced in late February that his government would consider banning grain imports from Russia and Belarus, as advised by Ukraine, which states that Moscow rather than Kyiv bears responsibility for the import crisis in Poland.

Meanwhile, the prime minister is lobbying at the EU level for sanctions on Russian and Belarusian agriculture and food production.

(Aleksandra Krzysztoszek | Euractiv.pl)

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