Renata Beger asked about Kołodziejczak as a minister. “God forbid!”

– There should be no subsidies for agriculture. We don't want alms, but fair earning conditions – Renata Beger, today a farmer running an organic farm and once a prominent Self-Defense MP (she sat on the Sejm benches in 2001-2007), began her conversation with Bogdan Rymanowski on Radio Zet with this unusual declaration.

Renata Beger on “rich striking farmers”: leased tractors, in debt

She is sorry that people unrelated to agriculture believe that farmers are “rich people” who first benefited from EU subsidies and now, on the one hand, are reaching out for more, and on the other hand, they are questioning the direction of European policy.

– Tractors are in debt, leased. People say farmers want more money. We don't want money, we want profitable production. We will work out everything with our own hands, said Beger. Later, she returned to tractors for a moment and said that tractors are manufactured by foreign companies, because Ursus no longer produces, and Polish companies only produce parts for tractors and smaller agricultural equipment. She argued that in this way, money from abroad would eventually return abroad.

Kołodziejczak? “No experience yet”

The former MP was asked to assess the actions of the minister and deputy minister of agriculture. She noted that she respects Czesław Siekierski very much, but she does not like the way he talks to farmers. In her opinion, he is not effective. “I think there should be someone with more energy in this position,” she said.

The presenter asked whether Michał Kołodziejczak, the former leader of Agrounia, who was appointed deputy minister of agriculture, would be a better choice.

– God forbid! No experience yet. The farmers themselves noticed that he was balancing his words, but there were no specifics, Beger replied decisively. She doesn't like Kołodziejczak's comparisons to Andrzej Lepper, because “you can't rely on someone else's image, you have to have your own.”

Rymanowski delved into the topic of Kołodziejczak and noted that he supported the farmers' protest

– But he doesn't have to support it – we will protest with or without him. As far as I'm concerned, he sold himself for 30 pieces of silver and joined the government. Does he think anyone respects him there? He's too young and doesn't see that they don't take him seriously. He went for money because he thought he would earn a lot there if he talked here and there with farmers. And we demand that the matters be resolved, Beger replied.

However, she positively assessed the actions of the Commissioner for Agriculture, Janusz Wojciechowski, and admitted that she was not one of the people demanding his dismissal.

Farmers' protest in Warsaw

On Tuesday, protesting farmers will appear in the center of Warsaw. The march will start at 11 a.m. on Defilad Square in front of the Palace of Culture and Science. The protesters will then walk through the street. Emilii Plater and Aleje Jerozolimskie to the Gen. Charles de Gaulle roundabout.

The Minister of Agriculture, Czesław Siekierski, apologized in advance to the residents of Warsaw for the difficulties they may encounter on the roads today, but explained that every protest involves some discomfort. The minister will repeat once again that he understands farmers' arguments and agrees with them that “the European Commission has gone too far with the Green Deal.”

– I believe that most farmers already apply elements of the Green Deal: they care about the land and the environment, but the EC has gone too far with the requirements – he said in “Sygnały Dnia” on Polish Radio.