“We must rise to the occasion in order simply to save Polish agriculture, but also the entire industry, which today is facing very serious problems,” said Tomasz Obszański, chairman of the Independent Self-Governing Trade Union of Individual Farmers “Solidarity” (NSZZ RI “Solidarność”), on Saturday. In his view, the government is doing nothing to help not only farmers, but other professional groups as well.
On Friday, the EU Council gave its approval for the ratification of the European Union’s agreement with Mercosur. The decision was taken despite protests by farmers in many European countries, including Poland. Demonstrators in Warsaw demanded a meeting with the Prime Minister. Some of them even went to the Chancellery of the Prime Minister. Donald Tusk, however, did not come out to meet them. Moreover, he stated that he had expected a much larger demonstration.
“The Prime Minister should beat his chest”
On Saturday, speaking on TV Republika, Tomasz Obszański, chairman of NSZZ RI “Solidarność,” assessed that the head of government has ignored representatives of the Polish countryside from the very beginning.
“Mr. Donald Tusk does not talk to farmers at all, and no matter how many farmers there are, he will always say that there are either too few or too many. The Prime Minister disregards farmers, does not talk to them, and in fact does nothing to help us farmers so that our farms can function normally,”
he said.
“Referring to the Mercosur agreement and to the situation with Ukraine, nothing is being done by the Polish government, all the more so by the Prime Minister. […] There are no visible actions that should have been carried out during Poland’s six-month presidency of the EU, which in fact has been slept through. The next presidency will be in some 13 years. In those six months, a great deal could really have been done. Meetings could have been held, talks conducted, and persuasion attempted. That is what we have a government for; that is what we have ministries for, which could have engaged in talks on Mercosur,”
he emphasized.
He added that representatives of his union had seen no action whatsoever by the government regarding the agreement in question. In his view, the Prime Minister should “beat his chest and tell the truth” that he did nothing on the Mercosur agreement.
“The President did everything”
The head of the farmers’ “Solidarity” also spoke about a meeting with Karol Nawrocki, who talked with farmers ahead of the protest. “The President said that it is reprehensible that a Polish farmer has to come to Warsaw and ask for help because no one listens to the farmers who are fighting to survive,” he said.
“President Karol Nawrocki did everything. He spoke with President Macron, Prime Minister Meloni, and everyone with whom he could engage in dialogue. He really did everything, but he did not have support from the government. This was clearly stated – there was no support from the Prime Minister or from the ministry,”
he emphasized.
Is a major protest coming?
Obszański noted that representatives of other professional groups joined the farmers in Friday’s protest. “Miners, steelworkers, foresters, hunters – all branches of the economy are really facing very serious problems today. They protested together with farmers; we stood together in solidarity, fighting to survive, to be able to earn a decent living, and simply to prevent workplaces from collapsing,” he said.
“Therefore, I appeal to Polish farmers not to give up. We are acting together. Our fathers fought; the problems were no smaller then. So here we will do everything to ensure that this protest and the general strike that will be organized, to which we warmly invite everyone, go ahead, and together we must rise to the occasion to save Polish agriculture, but also the entire industry, which today is facing very serious problems. […] All hands on deck, and we will fight for our Poland, because unfortunately, the threat today is enormous,”
he concluded.