Polish farmers protest against EU environmental rules deemed “harmful” – 05/10/2024 at 5:41 p.m.

Several thousand Polish farmers demonstrated on Friday against EU environmental regulations which they say harm the economy, and called for a referendum on the issue.

Under the banner “Down with the Green Deal”, dressed in yellow vests, they gathered in the center of Warsaw where they distributed apples and brandished Polish flags as well as signs on which skulls and bones were drawn.

The European Union’s Green Deal is an ambitious commitment to reach net zero carbon emissions by 2050, making the 27-nation bloc the “first climate-neutral continent.”

But this program has come under fire from criticism from the fossil fuel industry and the agricultural sector, as well as from right-wing and far-right political parties.

“We do not agree with all the provisions of the Green Deal, which harm the Polish economy,” said Adrian Wawrzyniak, spokesperson for the Solidarity farmers’ union.

“We want a referendum in Poland on the obligation for the president, parliament and government to reject the Green Deal,” he told AFP.

Some protesters also condemned Ukrainian agricultural imports, which they say are eating into their income, as well as the policies of Poland’s current pro-EU coalition government, which came to power late last year.

The right-wing opposition Law and Justice (PiS) party, which has close ties to the Solidarity union, said it would also take part in the protest.

To the sound of horns and drums, the march began on the historic Castle Square in the Polish capital and headed towards the representation of the European Commission in Poland.

The demonstrators, brandishing a banner with the Grim Reaper and banners reading “No to European dictatorship”, headed towards Parliament.

Their representatives met with Parliament Speaker Szymon Holownia to air their grievances and both sides said the talks had gone well.