Across Poland today, farmers are staging protests demanding that the EU-Mercosur Agreement be blocked. “This agreement is not safe – neither for farmers nor for consumers. Let us remember that farmers are protesting today in the interest of each and every one of us. Each of us is a consumer, and for opening the door to food from South America, each of us will pay above all with our health,” emphasized Anna Gembicka, an MP from Law and Justice (PiS).
Nationwide farmers’ protest
Today, between 10:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m., a nationwide farmers’ protest against the EU-Mercosur Agreement is taking place across Poland. Demonstrations are to take the form of tractor and agricultural vehicle stoppages along roads and overpasses, without blocking traffic.
One of the protests was organized in Rzeszów.
“We have gathered here to present our arguments and to appeal for hard work as well as for demonstrating the ability to defend the Polish interest. Our interest, the farmers’ interest, is the good of the country. If we do not defend ourselves, no one will defend us. Only in unity is there strength, and only through engagement can we achieve success,” said one of the farmers speaking at the protest.
Another protester addressed the governing December 13 Coalition: “What happened today that the price of milk is suddenly collapsing? Let no one in power say there is overproduction. Did overproduction suddenly appear in winter? Or is it not imports that are coming in?”
“Milk prices are falling by 20 groszy every month. All milk buyers are forecasting that this will last at least until April. We will have milk at 1.20 or 1.30 złoty. Which Polish farmer can survive that? Where is the state? The role of the state is that if there is overproduction, the minister travels to the other end of the world to sell that surplus so that farmers and the state can earn,” he stressed.
He also asked “how this agricultural policy is arranged if we have to stand here today.”
“Something is clearly wrong. We are not standing here to show our helplessness. We are here, we want to produce. We still believe that we will be able to produce something on this Polish land,” he concluded.
“Farmers are protesting today in the interest of each of us”
Anna Gembicka, an MP from Law and Justice (PiS), referred to the farmers’ protest on social media.
“Donald Tusk and Stefan Krajewski should be traveling to European capitals and blocking the blocking minority. Meanwhile, from Donald Tusk we hear that in this version the agreement is safe for farmers. Well, it is not safe – neither for farmers nor for consumers. Let us remember that farmers are protesting today in the interest of each of us. Each of us is a consumer, and for opening the door to food from South America, each of us will pay above all with our health,” she said in a recording.
In turn, MP Mateusz Morawiecki emphasized that “the protests are the voice of the Polish countryside.” He also pointed out that “Mercosur must be blocked in Europe, not drowned out at home.” What are the farmers demanding?
Polish farmers are calling on the Sejm of the Republic of Poland to adopt “an unambiguous resolution that obliges the government of the Republic of Poland to firmly oppose the EU-Mercosur Agreement.”
Moreover – they warn that the agreement with Mercosur countries may lead to an influx of cheap food from outside the European Union, produced under lower quality standards. In their assessment – there will be a lack of effective mechanisms to protect European producers, which could ultimately mean the liquidation of family farms.