Farmers and their supporters in Poland on Wednesday clashed with police amid protests against food imports from Ukraine that they say threaten their livelihoods.
Police used tear gas and detained more than a dozen people to prevent the protesters from getting through to the Sejm, the Polish parliament.
Some protesters threw stones at police and tried to push through barriers around parliament, injuring several officers, police said.
Photo: AFP
Farmers are angry over EU climate policies and food imports from Ukraine that they say threaten their livelihoods.
Such protests have occurred across the 27-member EU in the past few weeks, but this one was decidedly angrier than earlier demonstrations in the central European nation.
Police wrote on X that its officers “are not a party to the ongoing dispute,” and warned that behavior threatening their safety “cannot be taken lightly and requires a firm and decisive response.”
Photo: AFP
Polish Deputy Minister of Agriculture Michal Kolodziejczak said he did not believe that “real, normal farmers caused a riot in front of the Sejm today,” and that it was necessary to isolate “provocateurs and troublemakers.”
He did not say who he thought was behind the violence.
Farmers on tractors blocked highways leading into Warsaw while thousands of people gathered in front of the prime minister’s office before marching to the parliament.
Photo: AP
Some trampled an EU flag and burned a mock coffin bearing the word “farmer.”
Farmers were joined by miners, foresters, hunters and others. They blew horns and set off firecrackers and smoke bombs, despite police warnings that the use of pyrotechnics was banned.
Some protesters burned tires.
The protesters are demanding a withdrawal from the EU’s Green Deal, a plan meant to fight climate change and protect biodiversity, including with plans requiring farmers to reduce use of chemicals to boost their crops.
The protests have led politicians to water down some provisions.
The protesters also want the border with Ukraine closed to stop the imports of Ukrainian food products, which farmers say drive down market prices and put Poland’s agricultural sector in jeopardy.
The protest increased pressure on the government of Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, a former European Council president.
Tusk has sought to meet the farmers’ demands, calling their frustrations justified.
He has said he plans to propose amendments to the Green Deal.
Authorities have said they are concerned that Russia is trying to leverage legitimate concerns to create divisions between Warsaw and Kyiv.
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