Demonstrators from Poland, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Lithuania, Romania and Slovakia gathered in the centre of the Belgian capital on Tuesday to complain about their dire situation caused by an inflow of Ukrainian produce, Polish state news agency PAP reported.
They made their way to Brussels to present their demands to the European Union’s Commissioner for Agriculture, Janusz Wojciechowski, according to the euronews.com website.
They said Ukrainian grain imports were affecting their livelihoods and demanded that the EU take long-term, decisive measures on the issue, which is causing tensions in the region, euronews.com reported.
Protesting Central and Eastern European farmers say they cannot compete with their Ukrainian counterparts because Ukrainian agricultural producers are not operating under the EU's strict green rules and pesticide directives, according to euronews.com.
Wiktor Szmulewicz, the head of Poland's National Council of Agricultural Chambers (KRIR), an organisation that brings together farmer groups, told reporters that "European farming, and Polish farming in particular, is based on family farms," according to the PAP news agency.
"We are no match in competition with Ukrainian economic behemoths," he was quoted as saying.
Łukasz Pergoł, a farmer from northern Poland, told public broadcaster Polish Radio that protesters were demanding more and faster support from Brussels, in addition to an EU-wide ban on imports of Ukrainian produce such as poultry and eggs.
The European Commission, the EU's executive arm, announced on Tuesday it had approved a Polish plan to offer around EUR 1 billion worth of state aid to farmers affected by Russia's war against Ukraine.
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Source: IAR, PAP, euronews.com