Polish farmers brought the border with Ukraine to a complete standstill with their tractors on Tuesday as they protested the “uncontrolled” flows of cheap produce from their war-torn neighbour, which they claim has severely undermined their ability to remain in business.
In a significant blow to recently installed globalist Prime Minister Donald Tusk, who has vowed to be the most “pro-Ukrainian politician in Europe,” farmers from his country riled Kyiv once again by shutting down the border crossings at Lublin and Podkarpackie with hundreds of tractors, completely blocking off large transport trucks from coming in and out of the country and sparking queues dozens of miles long, Poland’s PAP news agency reported.
Flying the red and white Polish flags, tractors bore signs reading: “Stop the uncontrolled influx of Ukrainian goods” and “Agriculture is dying little by little” .
Speaking to the French news agency AFP, a farmer at the protest, Tomasz Golak said: “I am here so that we abandon the restrictions introduced by the European Union on fallowing, and the Green Deal, and above all so that these Ukrainian foods stop arriving,” adding: “This year, wheat is selling for half the price of last year”.
DOROHUSK, POLAND – FEBRUARY 20: An aerial view shows hundreds of trucks waiting in line as an ongoing blockade by Polish farmers continues on the Dorohusk Polish-Ukrainian border crossing on February 20, 2024 in Dorohusk, Poland. The long-running blockade centers on demands by Polish farmers and truckers to restrict imports of Ukrainian agricultural products. (Photo by Omar Marques/Getty Images)
Another farmer, Michal Magnuszewski said that the protest was a result of the “total failure” of EU policies, saying: “How can we open the border to something that is not controlled in any way? When we transport something abroad we go through hundreds of different checks, whereas here, nothing at all, it arrives here and that’s it”.
While Prime Minister Tusk, a former president of the European Council, has sought to rekindle relationships between Poland and other globalist factions within the bloc — after years of conflict with the previous conservative government of the Law and Justice party (PiS) — by going all in on Ukraine. Little has been said of the previous Polish government having already been one of the strongest supporters in Ukraine in Europe, however.
Upon taking office in December, Tusk vowed to lead efforts to launch a “full mobilization of the free world, the Western world, to help Ukraine in this war.”
However, relations remain tense between the two neighbours over the issue of agriculture. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Monday that the tractor blockade of the border by truckers and farmers was indicative of an “erosion of solidarity” towards Ukraine.
“Near Kupiansk, close to the Russian border, where enemy artillery does not cease, news from the border with Poland seems outright mocking,” Zelensky added.
Although Tusk is attempting to bring Poland into the globalist clique of neo-liberal nations in Western Europe such as France and Germany, it is unclear if he believes he has enough political capital at home to actively take on the farmers, given their near-universal support and therefore a dangerous political enemy to make just two months into his premiership.
The issue of farming is likely to be a major topic heading into the European Parliament elections in June. Farmers groups have protested throughout the continent, including in Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Romania, Poland and elsewhere.
A banner reading ‘Stop to uncontrolled supply of goods from Ukraine’ is seen on a tractor trailer as a man carrying a Polish flag passes by while Polish farmers block the highway linking Warsaw and Lublin outside the town of Ryki, Lublin region, during a protest of farmers across the country against EU climate measures on February 20, 2024. Farmers in Poland resumed a blockade of around 100 roads to the Ukrainian border in the morning of February 20 to protest against “uncontrolled” imports and demand a change to EU agricultural policy. For weeks Polish farmers have been blocking Ukrainian goods lorries from entering their country in anger at what they say is unfair competition from cheaper imports from Poland’s war-torn neighbour and ally. (Photo by Sergei GAPON / AFP) (Photo by SERGEI GAPON/AFP via Getty Images)
The EU has announced some concessions, such as rolling back cuts to subsidies, and to scrap anti-meat propaganda, however, key issues such as green regulations on nitrogen and other emissions, remain. Farmers across the bloc have all objected to opening the gates to Ukrainian agriculture, given that because of the cheap cost of labour and fewer restrictions within the former Soviet state, Ukrainian agriculture can be produced at a much lower cost.
It is unclear, however, if globalist politicians such as Donald Tusk and EU Chief Ursula von der Leyen are willing to make concessions on introducing tariffs on Ukrainian agriculture as the trade is seen as critical to propping up the proxy war effort against Russia.