Farmers in Poland are once again preparing to protest due to a lack of clear responses from the government to their key demands. After a meeting with the Minister of Agriculture, farmers said their concerns remained unresolved and announced a protest action scheduled for February 20 in Wroclaw, ProAgro Group reports.
According to the organizers, more than 100 units of agricultural machinery will block the city center. Farmers complain about large grain stocks that cannot be sold, low prices, and a difficult financial situation in farms, while also raising concerns about competition from Ukraine and MERCOSUR countries.
“There is a lot of grain in storage that we cannot sell. The economic situation is very difficult, farms lack funds. We are trapped in a spiral of low prices — no crop is profitable,” the farmers said.
Poland’s Minister of Agriculture Stefan Krajewski acknowledged most of the problems but stressed that there are no quick fixes. According to him, the government is negotiating to find new export markets for surplus grain and is calling for systemic changes.
“Everything cannot be based solely on subsidies. We need to look for systemic solutions. This includes enabling farmers to earn income from electricity generation as an additional source of revenue,” the minister said.
The protest in Wroclaw is expected to begin at 6:00 a.m. near the Voivodeship Office, after which farmers, supported by miners, will march through the city streets to the headquarters of the European Commission.
Earlier, Polish farmers announced a strike and temporary blockade of access roads to the Dolhobyczow–Uhriniv checkpoint on the Polish-Ukrainian border on January 23.
Source: Polskie Radio
