Thousands of Polish farmers demonstrated on Friday in Warsaw against EU environmental regulations which, they believe, are damaging the economy, and demanded a referendum on the issue.
The demonstrators, clad in yellow vests, rallied under the banner 'Down with the Green Deal' in the centre of the Polish capital, where they handed out apples and waved Polish flags alongside placards featuring images of skulls and bones.
The European Union’s Green Deal is an ambitious commitment aimed at achieving net zero carbon emissions by 2050, which would make the 27-nation bloc the world's first climate-neutral zone. However, the programme has faced criticism from the fossil fuel industry, agriculture sector, right-wing parties and the far right.
“We do not agree with all the provisions of the Green Deal, which are detrimental to the Polish economy,” said Adrian Wawrzyniak, spokesperson for the Solidarity farmers’ union. “We want a referendum in Poland on the requirement for the president, parliament, and government to reject the Green Deal,” he added in a statement to French news agency AFP.
Some protesters also condemned Ukrainian agricultural imports, which they believe are undercutting their earnings, as well as the policies of the current pro-EU coalition government in Poland, which came to power late last year.
The right-wing opposition Law and Justice (PiS) party– which has close ties to the Solidarity union – had announced it would also participate in the demonstration.
The march set off from Warsaw’s historic castle square and advanced to the European Commission’s representation in Poland, before heading to Parliament.
