Krzysztof Zemek's guest on Saturday on RMF FM was Chairman of the Parliamentary Foreign Affairs Committee and Commissioner for the Reconstruction of Ukraine, Pawel Kowal.
Kowal: Farmer protests are a regular feature
One question concerns the ongoing farmer strikes in Europe. The host asked if a new “Spring of Nations” was brewing on the continent.
– Remember this video from our whole life. If there is one thing that is consistent in the information we read every day throughout our lives, it is the farmer protests. Thats all about it. Farmers' protests mark expansion and policy changes – the parliamentarian said.
The journalist pointed out that demonstrations are taking place in several countries.
“So you don't get the slightest impression that I think it doesn't matter,” said Kowal. He added – because the key to Europe's work is well-organized agriculture. – But on the other hand, when we make a big fuss over everything, farmers’ protests are a constant element and then we need good managers and good experts – he emphasized.
Kowal praised Minister Czeslaw Sikirski for his actions so far. I saw him during the negotiations and he left a big impression on me. Today we have a very good Minister of Agriculture, and I am sure he will handle the negotiations – and I say this as someone who comes from the countryside and knows the Polish countryside – so that the interests of Polish farmers are secured. However, this is not the end of the world, Kowal said.
Farmers don't want the Green Deal
Farmers' strikes continue in many European countries. In some of them, for example in the Netherlands, farmers have been protesting for many years, but there has never been such a large-scale wave before. Large demonstrations took place in Germany and France. Italian, Spanish, Portuguese and Belgian farmers are also protesting.
Farmers protested, among others: in Brussels. On Thursday, the city was largely paralyzed, and the European Parliament headquarters were pelted with eggs.
The main reasons for the protests are the ideological policy of the Green Deal pushed by the European Commission and the dumping of European markets with agricultural products from Ukraine's international agricultural holdings. The EU agreement with Kiev in this regard has just been extended.
This second factor has a particularly negative impact on the Polish market. Therefore, after a series of warning strikes, the autonomous individual farmers' union “Sadamon” adopted a decision to declare a general strike of farmers throughout the country. Justifying the decision to strike, the organizers announced, “We have run out of patience.”
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