Starting Friday, 14 November, farmers’ protests will begin. The action will last at least a month and will take place simultaneously in dozens of locations across the country. “It’s as if the Ministry of Agriculture didn’t exist; the prime minister also refuses to meet with farmers. We’ve been pushed against the wall and have no choice but to take to the streets,” Tomasz Obszański, head of Agricultural Solidarity, told GPC.
Farmers Resume Protests
This coming weekend, demonstrations will be held in around 40 locations nationwide – most of them reported in the West Pomeranian Voivodeship, but blockades can also be expected in Mazovia, Silesia, Podkarpacie, Pomerania, Lesser Poland, Greater Poland, and Podlasie. Online, a searchable map of potential disruption points can be easily found.
“This is just the beginning of the campaign we are planning. Farmers will take to municipal, county, and regional roads. We oppose the Mercosur agreement, the agreement with Ukraine, and the government’s passivity toward the situation in agriculture. No state policy would offer even a chance for improvement. We cannot sell our crops, and on top of that, we’re hearing that we may have to pay a tax on self-harvest. This is what killing our sector of the economy looks like,” said Tomasz Obszański, chair of the Independent Self-Governing Trade Union ‘Solidarity’ of Individual Farmers, speaking to Gazeta Polska Daily (GPC).
He added that most likely next week, “a manifesto signed by all agricultural organizations” will be sent to the government, which will then have two weeks to respond. If it does not, protesters will come to block the capital. In addition, farmers have announced that on 18 December they will appear in Brussels, where a large international strike is planned.