Czech farmers protested on Thursday against the EU’s agricultural policy, the Green Deal, and against imports from third countries. Hundreds of tractors across the country restricted traffic in several cities, as well as on main roads and border crossings, including with Poland.
The organizers of the protest from the Chamber of Agriculture of the Czech Republic said that about 3,000 people took to the roads. agricultural machinery. The protests were mainly against bureaucratic burdens and inspections from various institutions. Their frequency was to increase even twice. The organizers emphasized that the protest is part of pan-European demonstrations by the agri-food industry.
The chairman of the Chamber of Agriculture, Jan Doleżal, said at a rally at the former border crossing between the Czech Republic and Slovakia in Hodonin-Holicz that protests may continue, both at the European and national level. This border crossing was completely blocked for a short time. The roads between Gródek on Nysa and Bogatynia in Poland and in Kocobędz, despite the presence of agricultural machines, remained passable.
Czech Minister of Agriculture Marek Vyborny stated after the end of the agricultural protest that he agreed with many of the farmers’ reservations, especially those regarding bureaucratic burdens. He announced that by the end of the week he should receive comments from partners in the government coalition on possible changes in agricultural policy.
He repeated that the goals of the EU’s Green Deal for Europe, against which farmers are also protesting, must be more realistic. Referring to the issue of imports from Ukraine, he emphasized the obligation to support the economically attacked country and criticized the actions of some protesting farmers in Poland who spilled Ukrainian grain on the ground.
