Farmers protest in Dorohusk. The march on Warsaw has been postponed and without tractors
Farmers’ protests continue. On Sunday, the largest of them took place in Dorohusk, where the deputy voivode of Lublin was booed. But blockades also took place in Medyka and on the S3 road in the province. West Pomeranian Voivodeship. We also know more details of the announced march on Warsaw.
On Sunday, further farmers’ protests took place at the border crossings with Ukraine in Medyka and Dorohusk. In the latter case, they booed the deputy voivode of Lublin, Andrzej Maj. Farmers also blocked the S3 expressway at the Myślibórz junction in the province. West Pomeranian Voivodeship. The protests have been going on for many days, and there are also clashes with truck drivers.
Farmers’ strike in Dorohusk and Medyka
Farmers from Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands and France joined the Sunday protest of Polish farmers in Dorohusk. According to RMF FM, there were about a thousand protesters on site.
Andrzej Maj, the deputy voivode of Lublin, came to them and declared that the government would fight for changes to the Green Deal.
I am here to show solidarity with you and the authorities’ solidarity when it comes to these protests, because we see what the situation is in the countryside. We are very impressed that farmers were able to unite and show their dissatisfaction. Your protest makes the authorities very determined to help Polish agriculture. I have had talks with the Minister of Agriculture, Czesław Siekierski, said Maj. According to Polsat News, after mentioning the name of the head of the Ministry of Agriculture, the crowd started whistling and demanding specifics.
– We will fight very hard to ensure that the “Green Deal” in the form in which it was presented does not enter into force – assured the deputy voivode. – The next specific thing is another billion zlotys for all disaster aid, and most likely by the end of February you will be able to submit applications for this aid, mainly drought aid. PLN 12.5 billion for loans, which will be supported and subsidized from the state budget, he said.
– When it comes to the border, all services are on alert and I would like to assure you that all agri-food products that are legally placed on the market in Poland are safe – continued the deputy voivode, but farmers reacted to this with laughter and whistles.
The deputy voivode also stated that he cannot close the border at the voivodeship level and this requires a coalition of many European countries that will influence the decisions of the European Commission. – There is a very important meeting in March when the most important ministers from the Ukrainian side will be in Warsaw and we will want to introduce the system that operated before the outbreak of this conflict on our eastern border. It will be a system related to import limits for individual products and you will soon know the details of what it will look like, he added.
On Sunday, another day of blockade of the border crossing in Medyka took place, where farmers block the pedestrian crossing, allowing only one truck to pass per hour. On Sunday, there was also a blockade of the S3 expressway at the Myślibórz junction in the West Pomeranian Voivodeship.
Total blockade on Tuesday and delayed march to Warsaw
On Tuesday, February 20, farmers from Podkarpacie and the Lublin region are planning a general strike on the Polish-Ukrainian border. The announced strike is to involve a complete blockade of traffic at several border crossings with Ukraine, including: in Dorohusk, Hrebenne and Medyka. Farmers from other European countries are also expected to support the protest, including: Belgium or France.
In turn, the Starry March to Warsaw, also announced for Tuesday, is to take place a week later. As the chairman of the agricultural OPZZ, Sławomir Izdebski, explained, the idea is not to disturb each other with those blocking the roads.
– A lot of blockades have been reported in Poland and in a moment it would turn out that we were blocking ourselves. So we decided to continue the strike on February 20 throughout the country, but in the form of blocking roads and roundabouts, while a typical march to Warsaw will take place on February 27, Izdebski said on Radio dla Młodych.
Izdebski also informed that farmers do not plan to enter the capital with tractors. – We will get there by various means of transport, cars, trains, whoever can. However, we do not plan to enter with tractors, he said.
