Polish farmers announce border blockade — RT World News

The Solidarity trade union announced on Thursday that Polish farmers will close border crossings with Ukraine during a general strike scheduled for next Friday.

He added that in addition to closing Ukrainian crossings, the Union plans to intermittently close roads throughout Poland until March 10.

“We have run out of patience. Brussels' position on the last day of January 2024 is unacceptable for our entire agricultural community.” The union said in a statement, referring to the EU summit held on Thursday, which farmers from across the bloc protested loudly.

He added: “The inaction of the Polish authorities and their plans to cooperate with the European Commission and respect all its decisions regarding the import of agricultural products and food from Ukraine has left us with no choice but to declare a general strike.” Solidarity added. It called on Polish citizens to respect the Union's struggle for what it described as “World War II.” “common good” From the nation.

Farmers across Germany, France, the Netherlands and several other EU countries have come out to protest in recent weeks, citing the bloc's policy. “green” Climate policies target agricultural producers with high fuel prices, as well as cheap Ukrainian imports that flood their domestic markets.

They gathered in Brussels with more than 1,300 tractors during an EU summit this week, throwing eggs, stones and fireworks at the European Parliament building and setting huge piles of dung on fire.

The European Commission angered farmers by proposing on Thursday to extend the suspension of tariffs on agricultural goods from Ukraine and Moldova until 2025. Brussels had initially justified dropping the tariffs in 2022 as a way to support Kiev during the conflict with Russia. The suspension was previously scheduled to end this year.

Polish farmers first took to the streets last year to protest cheap Ukrainian imports that drove down prices and put their livelihoods at risk. Polish truck drivers have joined the protests, claiming they too are being undermined by their Ukrainian counterparts. Along with Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria and Slovakia, Poland moved to ban Ukrainian grain imports in May.

A separate protest by another group of farmers and truck drivers who closed a major border crossing with Ukraine ended earlier this month when Warsaw gave in to the protesters' demands, which included reinstating the permit system for Ukrainian truck drivers, adopting state subsidies for Polish corn, and a moratorium. On tax increases.

After weeks of farmer protests across Europe, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen held a meeting “Strategic Dialogue” With community and business leaders in Brussels last week trying to find “Shared and lasting solutions” for European agriculture. However, critics highlighted the lack of representation of farmers at the meeting.