Polish farmers up stakes in protests against Ukrainian grain

By Jo Harper

WARSAW (AA) - Polish farmers intensified protests Tuesday by blocking rail transport in Medyka on the border with Ukraine and pouring grain from incoming Ukrainian wagons onto rail tracks.

The protests are taking place in several hundred towns across Poland to protest the European Union's agricultural policy, the Green Deal and duty-free inflow of agri-food goods from Ukraine.

Farmers also blocked the road leading to the border terminal in Medyka.

Demonstrators with Polish flags standing near wagons with Ukrainian grain sang the Polish national anthem and some farmers poured the contents of the wagons onto the tracks. Hunters also reportedly took part in the protest.

Two wagons of corn were spilled in Medyka, according to information from agricultural magazine, Agro Profil.

One of the largest protests, in the town of Zgierz, started at 8 a.m. and, according to organizers, will last 24 hours.

TVN television reported Monday that Prime Minister Donald Tusk talked to Agriculture Minister Czeslaw Siekierski about ending the protests.

“The protesters have plenty of justification,” Tusk reportedly said, adding that ending the protests was a priority for his government.

Siekierski wrote an open letter to farmers Monday, in which he summarized the activities of the Agriculture Ministry in implementing demands.