Several people break into Polish parliament during farmers’ protest: Report

By Jo Harper

WARSAW (AA) - Several people broke into Poland’s parliament building during a farmers’ protest on Wednesday before being detained by police, local Onet news website reported.

Farmers have been protesting against the inflows of Ukrainian grain and other foodstuffs onto the Polish market and demand the end of the EU’s environmental policies that they say will bankrupt many Polish farmers.

Earlier, Polsat News television reported that a group of protesters in front of parliament started dismantling cobblestones.

Smoke flares and firecrackers were thrown at the police during clashes in front of parliament and several police officers were injured, police said in a statement. Onet reported that flares, eggs and fragments of paving stones were also thrown.

"Due to the physical aggression from some of the people protesting at Wiejska Street - towards police officers - it was necessary to use direct coercive measures. It should be emphasized that previously these people were asked to behave in accordance with the law," a police statement said.

"Behaviors that threaten the safety of our officers, including throwing paving stones at them, cannot be underestimated and require a firm and decisive response. The police are not a party to the ongoing dispute in connection with which the protests are taking place," they added.

Some farmers, despite a ban, entered Warsaw with tractors. The organizers of the protest in Warsaw expect up to 100,000 people on the streets of the capital.

“You have politicized the farmers' protests. This must not be done,” Agriculture Minister Czeslaw Siekierski told the opposition in parliament.

"I don't believe that real, normal farmers started a riot in front of the Sejm today," Michal Kolodziejczak, deputy minister of agriculture, said.