Talks between Polish farmers and government reach dead end

Another meeting between Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk and farmers has ended in Warsaw.

Representatives of the protesters said after the talks that the head of government presented proposals to solve some of the problems faced by Polish food producers, but that no agreement was reached during the meeting.

Before the talks, farmers announced that if their demands were not met, their protest may well intensify on the border with Ukraine.

Trucks trying to get into Ukraine in south-eastern Poland currently have to wait in queues for up to 24 days, as farmers’ protests are blocking all road crossings into the war-torn country.

Roughly 650 vehicles are waiting in a 17-kilometre queue to leave the country. Protesting farmers allow only 12 trucks heading to Ukraine to pass every 12 hours.

But they do allow the transportation of humanitarian and military aid, live animals and coaches to pass through.

Polish farmer protests have been on the go since November 2023. Their demands include the rejection by Poland of the EU’s Green Deal and the sealing of the country’s eastern borders against excessive imports of Ukrainian agricultural products onto the national market, which, according to the farmers, have been hurting their business with unfair competition.