Farmers persist. Protests have been taking place across the country for several weeks. Watching them, you get the impression that the farmers are slowly starting to lose their nerves. The subsequent spilled grain wagons could clearly prove this. Are farmers really taking such radical actions? There are more and more doubts.
Intensified farmers’ strikes have been going on since autumn 2023. It’s getting hotter on the streets from week to week. Not only cities and communication routes are blocked, but also all borders with Ukraine.
Incidents are becoming more frequent, often causing an international scandal. For example, pouring grain from trucks and wagons coming from Ukraine.
Ukraine reacts sharply to the scattering of grain in Poland
While opening the gates on trucks did not arouse such emotions, subsequent incidents of pouring grain from wagons caused an avalanche of comments – especially on the Ukrainian side. And these were not favorable comments.
The perpetrators of such barbarism harm not only Ukraine, but also Poland. We appeal to the Polish authorities and police to do everything possible and impossible to find and justly punish those responsible for such shameful acts – wrote the Ukrainian ambassador to Poland, Vasyl Zvarych on the X website after the media published information about the scattering of grain from 8 wagons in Kotomierz.
Oleksand Kubrakow, the Ukrainian Minister of Infrastructure, also regularly reports on incidents related to the spilling of Ukrainian grain.
He talks not only about the spilling of wagons in Kotomierz, where, according to him, 160 tons of grain were spilled, but also about the case of spilling beans in Dorohusk, or rapeseed in the same place.
Similar events were recorded on February 11. Then, 5 tons of Ukrainian soy found themselves at the crossing in Dorohusk in the Lublin region.
Let me just say that unpunished crimes always return. Whether it is military aggression or destroyed grain. Criminals must be punished so that others are not tempted to repeat them, wrote Kubrakov on the X website.
He is not the only politician who decided to comment on the whole incident. The mayor of Lviv, Andriy Sadowy, called Polish farmers protesting on the border with Ukraine “pro-Russian provocateurs”.
Let’s call a spade a spade. This photo shows Ukrainian grain being poured out of trucks by Polish, but in fact pro-Russian, provocateurs. The pseudo-blockade at the border continues – wrote Sadowy. – Ukrainians are literally shedding blood in the fields where this seed is born. Harvesting wheat in a field that has seen war is like the work of a sapper. Such actions (of Poles) are petty and shameful.
These words caused enormous outrage among Polish farmers. Especially since it is not really known whether farmers are behind these incidents.
Provocateurs appear at protests
The protests have caused a lot of emotions from the very beginning. Farmers say that their backs are against the wall and they will not go back. In such a situation, it is easy to cause extreme emotions and radical actions. But are they really undertaken by farmers?
We have been participating in protests practically from the very beginning. We talk not only to the organizers, but also to their participants. We show you some of these conversations, but the vast majority of them take place outside the camera’s eye. These are dozens of hours spent talking, exchanging thoughts, views and trying to understand current events.
These conversations involve many, often difficult, emotions. But above all, there is reason and understanding that protest is only a way to achieve the goal. And this road doesn’t have to be full of fireworks and explosions.
Organizers spend dozens of hours at blockades, making sure that participants follow the established rules. They devote their time to ensure that everything complies with the law and does not exceed established limits.
And I must tell you that it is not easy. Emotions run high, but each protest participant is aware of the consequences they may face for radical actions. Both he and the organizer, who bears all responsibility.
Suffice it to say that, as Gustaw Jędrejek, president of the Lublin Chamber of Agriculture, informed, a fine of PLN 18,000 can be imposed for dumping manure on a expressway.
So who decides to take such radical actions as pouring several wagons of grain? It is clear that the consequences of such action amount to hundreds of thousands of zlotys.
And here comes the basic question that more and more people we talk to ask themselves. Isn’t this a provocation? And what is its purpose?
We are reporting on some of the protests taking place for you, and with the eyes of an observer, we increasingly see that there are outsiders among the demonstrating farmers. People who cause confusion incite the crowd. People that none of the locals know. When asked who they are, they only introduce themselves by name and say that they are locals. And yet unknown to anyone.
After several protests, we are almost flawlessly able to identify people who all they do is start riots. Or at least they try. They appear on trailers from which leaders speak and spread radical slogans. They knock on the door, behind which conversations take place in a strictly defined group.
They are always at the center of events. Always at key moments. And then they disappear. Like shadows. They are not present at organizational meetings, they are not present when establishing working groups, they are not present on duty at the border, at protests or on duty. They appear out of nowhere. Whenever they can shine. Whenever they know that they will be listened to and the radical slogans they promote will cause a stir.
They take to the streets with controversial banners on tractors. They spread hateful slogans and provoke radical, often illegal actions.
Farmers are increasingly paying attention to such activities. They fear that such provocations will harm themselves.
It has long been known that radical actions arouse interest, but not necessarily admiration. While one action involving spilling grain can be treated as a symbol, subsequent actions, especially those in the middle of the country, are pure vandalism. And farmers are perfectly aware of this.
The tension between the citizens of Poland and Ukraine is growing rapidly. There is no doubt that all it takes is a spark to ignite everything. But is that the point?
The protesters we talk to clearly say no. It’s not about conflict, no one wants a fight.
Incidents, of course, will occur. Because with each passing day, both the farmers protesting at the border and the drivers from Ukraine standing in long-kilometer traffic jams are becoming more and more tired. The fuse is getting shorter. Emotions take over. However, verbal arguments are one thing and opening the wagons is another.
This has gone too far – we hear from the ministry. – We are aware that most of these actions are simple provocations intended to create a spiral of mutual hostility.
And this time it is impossible to disagree with this opinion.
Who cares about building tension between the Polish and Ukrainian sides? And is this intended to discredit farmers in the eyes of global public opinion? We invite you to the discussion.
