Polish farmers protested on Friday against European Union environmental rules they say are hurting the economy and called for a referendum on the issue.
The “Away from the Green Course” protest drew several thousand farmers in yellow vests to the center of Warsaw, waving Polish flags, handing out apples and carrying signs with skulls and bones.
The European Union’s Green Deal is an ambitious commitment to zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, making the 27-nation bloc the “first climate-neutral continent”.
However, it is criticized by the fossil fuel industry and the agricultural sector, as well as by the right-wing and political parties most to the right of the political spectrum.
“We do not agree with all the provisions of the green rate, which are harmful to the Polish economy,” said Adrian Wawrzyniak, representative of the Polish farmers’ union “Solidarity”.
We do not agree with all provisions of the green rate, which are harmful to the Polish economy.
“We want a referendum in Poland to demand that the president, parliament and government reject the Green Deal,” he told AFP.
Some protesters have also condemned imports of Ukrainian agricultural produce, which they say are undermining their incomes, and the policies of Poland’s current centrist coalition government that came to power late last year.
The right-wing opposition party Law and Justice (PiS), which has close ties to the Solidarity trade union, said it was also joining the protest.
The demonstration started in the historical Warsaw Castle Square. The participants of the protest first went to the representative office of the European Commission in Poland, and then turned towards the Seimas.
The representatives of the protesters intend to meet with the Speaker of the Seimas Szymon Holownia and express their grievances.
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