Members of the “Deceived Countryside” organization, who had joined the ongoing protest of Polish truckers at other border crossings, suspended their blockade on Dec. 24 for the holiday period, but on Thursday, they decided to relaunch it.
The farmers started blocking the Medyka border crossing on Nov. 23 in an effort to join other blockades at Korczowa, Dorohusk and Hrebenne. Among their demands are subsidies for corn, additional money for liquidity loans, and maintaining the current level of the agricultural tax throughout 2024. Truckers have also been blocking the border crossings with Ukraine since November last year, complaining about unfair competition from their Ukrainian peers.
The protesting farmers said on Thursday that they had not received confirmation that their demands would be met. They added that they needed “written declarations, not just a memo prepared by the agriculture minister.”
Agriculture Minister Czeslaw Siekierski told a press conference on Thursday that meeting the farmers’ demands “will take time because the budget for 2024 must be adopted, and it is currently in parliament,” but he assured that there is money in the budget for subsidies and loans.
Siekierski told reporters that he had sent farmers a note in which he confirmed that he would implement their demands, including subsidies for corn, which requires the European Commission to be notified, an increase in agricultural lending by 2.5 billion zlotys (€575 million) with loans at 2 percent, and no increase in the agricultural tax.
The farmers have assured that all private cars as well as military, humanitarian and perishable goods convoys would be allowed through the blockade. However, as far as all other vehicles are concerned, only three trucks per hour are being allowed through the border.
