Polish farmers announce massive protest in Warsaw against Ukrainian imports
Illustrative photo: Polish farmers announced a large-scale protest in Warsaw against imports from Ukraine (Getty Images)
Farmers in Poland plan to protest tomorrow, January 3, in Warsaw against the European Union policy and imports from Ukraine. The demonstration will occur at 2:00 p.m. local time (3:00 Kyiv time), the Farmer.pl. reports.
The protest will be organized in front of the European Commission's representation office. Afterward, the protesters plan to head to the National Theatre.
The Union of Agricultural Organizations, which includes 21 associations of Polish farmers, organizes the protest.
"All agricultural organizations in our country will protest against the harmful EU policy, against Ursula von der Leyen (President of the European Commission - ed.), who is imposing this policy that will lead to the closure of our farms," said Tomasz Obszanski, Leader of the NSZZ RI Solidarnosc union.
Farmers will protest against:
- The Mercosur Agreement – the economic union of South American countries;
- The Green Deal;
- Imports from Ukraine;
- The destruction of Polish forests and hunting;
- The extinction of the Polish economy.
Protests by Polish farmers and border blockades
In 2023, the first wave of blockades began on the Ukrainian-Polish border. At that time, Polish protesters demanded the return of permits for Ukrainian freight carriers. These protests, in turn, led to disruptions in logistics within the agricultural sector and other industries.
After several rounds of negotiations between Kyiv and Warsaw, the freight transport movement at the border was unblocked in April 2024. However, Polish farmers later reinstated the blockades several times.
For more details on the current state of relations between Ukraine and Poland, read our material on the topic.
