Polish Farmers Burn Tyres Outside Tusk’s Office

Thousands of Polish farmers protested outside the prime minister’s office, burning tyres and throwing firecrackers as they demanded a halt to cheap imports and environmental regulations they say harm their livelihoods.

Some of the protesters carried a coffin bearing a sign saying “farmer, lived 20 years, killed by the Green Deal” as they thronged the street, blowing horns and holding Polish flags aloft before marching on to the parliament.

Elsewhere in the country, they blocked roads. Television footage showed tractors on the outskirts of Warsaw being stopped from entering the city.

Report says farmers across the European Union have been calling for changes to restrictions placed on them by the bloc’s Green Deal plan to tackle climate change and for customs duties on imports of agricultural products from Ukraine that were waived after Russia’s invasion to be reimposed.

In Poland, this has created a delicate balancing act for Donald Tusk’s government in a year where it faces both local and European elections, as it seeks to address farmers’ concerns while also maintaining its staunch support for Kyiv.

The farmers, who were making good on their promise to return to Warsaw after thousands of them marched through the city a week earlier, were now backed by Poland’s biggest labour union NSZZ Solidarnosc, as well as hunters and forestry workers.

REUTERS/Christopher Ojilere