On Friday, at 10:00 p.m., farmers from confederate Wielkopolska one more time took to the streets to express their opposition to the direction in which agricultural policy is headed in Poland and the European Union.
This time they blocked the Cornel Morawiecki roundabout on national road No. 11 in Kępna Circles. The protest will take 30 days. The organizer of the blockade is Association of confederate Wielkopolska Farmers — 1 of the most active bottom-up agricultural groups in the region.
The association was formed as a consequence to the increasing problems faced by farmers in the region — especially tiny and medium-sized household farms. It is an independent, bottom-up organization that brings together people surviving from the ground, producing food, employing local communities and protecting the Polish village from degradation. Their voice is not a explanation — it is simply a regular practice and a real experience of surviving on a field.
From the beginning, the Association has put forward a strong opposition to the marginalizing policy of Polish agriculture. Farmers from confederate Wielkopolska organised protests on many occasions, debated with local governments, intervened in Warsaw and Brussels, but, as they say, were ignored. That's why they're back on the road now. due to the fact that “if not a farmer, then who?”
What do the protesters want?
The main demands of farmers stay unchanged, although there are reasons for discontent all month. Farmers demand, among others:
- strong opposition to the liquidation of animal breeding in Poland, which they believe is conducted quietly and systematically;
- the detention of duty-free imports of agricultural products from Ukraine which destabilises the marketplace and renders local production meaningless;
- reject the EU trade agreement with the Mercosur countries, which they believe will bring cheap, low-quality food from South America into Europe;
- Opposition to fresh EU regulations, specified as GAEC 2 (the duress of land) or ETS 2 (an emissions trading strategy that will include agricultural fuels), which will importantly increase production costs.
Protesters say no 1 seriously talks to them about these threats. According to them, politicians, both national and EU, have taken a break from the realities of agrarian life and are focused solely on "green ideologies", which are unrealistic and costly.
Protest is not a whim, it's a cry of despair
The shuttle movement at the roundabout slowed the movement, but as the farmers emphasize, it is simply a necessity.
“We don’t want to hurt anyone, but individual has to hear us. We stopped being needed by the state, and we are the ones who feed this country," said 1 of the protesters.
Many of them came with their families. There are banners, tractors, Polish flags, and the slogans: “Without a village there is no Poland”, “Stop green communism”, “Enough empty promises!”
Farmers emphasize that they do not protest for boredom or for political reasons. It's them or not. In their opinion, if there are no decisive changes in agricultural and trade policy, most tiny and medium-sized farms will vanish from the Polish map in a fewer years.
The protest in the Circles is only 1 of many. Farmers from all over the country announce further blockades, and their determination grows all day. They want talks — but not fake consultations, only specifics: decisions, changes in law, protection of the Polish marketplace and return to a real policy supporting national producers.
The Association of South Wielkopolska Farmers announces that it will not resign until it sees the action — not the declaration.
