An Insight on Farmers Protest in Poland

Polish farmers were seen protesting  in Warsaw , outside the Prime Minister, Donal Tusk’s office. The protesting farmers went violent , causing clashes with police. The farmers are unhappy about the proposed climate deal by the European Union. Along with this, they demand putting  an end to the cheap imports as it harms their livelihood. Polish farmers are pressuring the government to accept their demands or else they would bring the country to a standstill.

Violent Protest

 While protesting, the farmers and their supporters threw firecrackers and burnt tyres , as they asked the government to put a halt to  cheap imports and environmental regulations. Some of the protestors threw rocks and firecrackers as they were moving towards the Parliament, while the police  used tear gas , batons and pepper spray to control the violent protest.

Different Views on Protest 

The Interior Minister, Marcin Kierwinski said  that around  23 of the protesters were detained by the security forces after the protest turned violent. The media footage clearly shows that the protestors were marching towards the Parliamentary ground before being subdued by the police forces.

The leader of the NSZZ RI Solidarnosc Union for individual Farmers said that earlier everything was calm and the protest was happening in a peaceful manner, then suddenly the police arrived and things took a turn. The police started using tear gas and forced the demonstrators to leave. 

What is the Polish PM doing?

Polish Prime Minister, Donald Tusk, who is also the former President of the European Council is believed to hold an inclination towards the European Union and it is also believed that he supports Ukraine as it fights the invasion of Russia. The Polish PM tries to address  farmers issues while supporting Kyiv in a year where it faces  local as well as  European elections.Tusk  planned on Monday, to ask the European Union to  put a ban on import of  agricultural products from  Russia and Belarus.

 Tusk visited Prague and said that he could not rule out a ban on imports of Ukrainian grains to different other products ,if the EU does not act to protect the bloc’s markets,  as the  farmers of Poland started to protest against the EU green rules and the Ukrainian food imports . Poland had already put  a ban on Ukrainian grain imports in the previous year.

Why are the Farmers Protesting? 

There have been many restrictions placed on the farmers by the bloc’s Green Deal Plan to handle the climate change and for the re-imposition of custom duties on the imports from Ukraine. The custom duties were removed on the imports  from Ukraine after Russia’s invasion.

The leader of the NSZZ RI Solidarnosc Union for individual Farmers,Obszanski said that since their request for meeting the PM was not accepted so now they will bring Poland to a standstill.Tractors were stopped from entering Warsaw and roads were blocked in the other parts of the country.

Protests Across European Countries

Such farmers protests are not only limited to Poland. Similar protests are also seen in Hungary. The Hungarian farmers came together with their tractors on the broader crossing with Ukraine. 

In Spain too, the farmers blocked the roads and a hundred tractors went ahead to the center. Besides this , in Greece, the farmers have asked for reduction in electricity prices, tax free diesel along with some changes to European Union’s environmental regulations.