The farmers’ branch of the Solidarity trade union has ended its sit-in protest at the Ministry of Agriculture but this does not mean that protests will come to an end, the chairman of the union said on Thursday.
Tomasz Obszański said during a press conference in front of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development building: “We have ended the sit-in protest. Protests will continue on the streets and in cities. Protest actions will continue.”
He also announced “a large protest of workers’ Solidarity and agricultural Solidarity and all unions that wish to join, farmers from all organisations” on May 10 in Warsaw. “We are preparing for this protest. This protest will attack the broadly defined ‘Green Deal’,” he said, referring to the European Union’s (EU) plan aimed at making farming more environmentally-friendly.
“We cannot leave the EU, but we have to be a sovereign nation-state and make decisions for ourselves,” he said.
“We left the building of the Ministry of Agriculture after the protest, after the sit-in strike, which was in its third day. We received information that Prime Minister [Donald - TVP World] Tusk will meet with farmers next week, which is what we wanted and what matters to us,” Obszański said.
Obszański admitted that after talks with Agriculture Minister Czesław Siekierski, “there is some progress,” but the protesters were still not entirely satisfied as talks with Siekierski and his deputy, Michał Kołodziejczak, have been “quite difficult.”
“Yesterday, most of the agricultural organisations left [the sit-in protest - TVP World]. Financing and guarantees were obtained for the sale of grain from PLN 200 [EUR 47] to PLN 300 [EUR 70]. (...) For us, this is unsatisfactory,” he said.
He also announced “a large protest of workers’ Solidarity and agricultural Solidarity and all unions that wish to join, farmers from all organisations” on May 10 in Warsaw. “We are preparing for this protest. This protest will attack the broadly defined ‘Green Deal’,” he said, referring to the European Union’s (EU) plan aimed at making farming more environmentally-friendly.
“We cannot leave the EU, but we have to be a sovereign nation-state and make decisions for ourselves,” he said.
“We left the building of the Ministry of Agriculture after the protest, after the sit-in strike, which was in its third day. We received information that Prime Minister [Donald - TVP World] Tusk will meet with farmers next week, which is what we wanted and what matters to us,” Obszański said.
Obszański admitted that after talks with Agriculture Minister Czesław Siekierski, “there is some progress,” but the protesters were still not entirely satisfied as talks with Siekierski and his deputy, Michał Kołodziejczak, have been “quite difficult.”
“Yesterday, most of the agricultural organisations left [the sit-in protest - TVP World]. Financing and guarantees were obtained for the sale of grain from PLN 200 [EUR 47] to PLN 300 [EUR 70]. (...) For us, this is unsatisfactory,” he said.
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