Farmers protested in Szczecin against the uncontrolled inflow of agricultural products

Farmers went on strike on Wednesday in front of the West Pomeranian Voivodeship Office in Szczecin. They are demanding that the government protect the market from unfair competition from countries outside the European Union, primarily Ukraine, and abandon the rigors of the Green Deal, which they believe is stifling the economy and impoverishing Polish society.

The uncontrolled influx of agricultural products that is destroying the Polish economy is the biggest fear of farmers. This mainly concerns grain from Ukraine and goods that may be transported from some South American countries after the signing of the Mercosur agreement.

- The Prime Minister should talk to us about three main topics: the Mercosur agreement, the Green Deal and what's next for Ukraine - announced the chairman of the assembly, Piotr Kamiński. He emphasized that food independence is one of the pillars of the state's security system. And now this pillar is being violated. - Won't it turn out that after the harvest grain will start flowing into Poland again? When the war broke out, we were told that we were to be a transit country for Ukrainian grain, because without it there would be a humanitarian catastrophe in the Third World countries. And it turned out that the grain remained, and no one talks about the Third World countries.

Stanisław Barna, one of the protest leaders, argued that the uncertainty of what awaits them after June 5 is a huge problem for rural people. Because until that day, the limits on Ukrainian grain are in force. If they are withdrawn - and farmers fear that this will happen - it will be a disaster for the Polish countryside. In this respect, Poles cannot compete fairly with Ukrainians, because our eastern neighbors are not bound by restrictive regulations that increase production costs in our country.

- We want to restore the pre-war regulations - emphasized Stanisław Barna. - There will be no such decision until the elections. And we want to know what it will look like after June 5 - will there be customs duties, limits? Will there be a completely open border?

Deputy Voivode Bartosz Brożyński addressed the protesters.

Then the protesting delegation met with the deputy governor in his office.

Paulina Heigel, spokeswoman for the West Pomeranian Voivode, informed us that the farmers’ demands will be sent to Prime Minister Donald Tusk and the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.

Some of the farmers remained at the office. They are to remind about their problems for a month. ©℗

Alan Sasinowski

More on this topic in Thursday’s “Kurier Szczeciński” and eKurier from May 15, 2025.