The farmers’ protest has paralyzed roads across Poland. Today, Poles joined protests by farmers from across Europe opposing changes in legislation related to the European Green Deal. Brussels aims for a drastic and profound ecological transformation, targeting climate neutrality for Europe by 2050. Farmers argue they cannot swiftly change the principles of their agricultural production and fear bankruptcy and the collapse of European agriculture if the plan is enforced.
The Minister of Agriculture of Poland’s new government officially supports the farmers’ protest. However, Prime Minister Donald Tusk has thus far agreed to all EU proposals to intensify the fight against climate change, even withdrawing official complaints against these proposals lodged by the previous right-wing government. In contrast, Deputy Minister of Agriculture Michał Kołodziejczak, who protested with farmers before the elections, this time, when appointed as minister, threatened a female farmer who participated in the protest. A member of the Law and Justice party announced plans to report Kołodziejczak to the prosecutor’s office for using unlawful threats against protesting farmers.