Farmers march in Poland's capital, cut off roads in Spain to protest Ukraine imports and EU policies
Thousands of farmers are marching in Poland’s capital to protest European Union agricultural policies and imports of cheap food from neighboring Ukraine
WARSAW, Poland — Thousands of farmers marched in Poland's capital and Spanish farmers cut off traffic on highways near the French border on Tuesday in the latest protests against food imports from Ukraine and the European Union's agricultural policies.
The actions follow similar protests across Europe in recent weeks, and come as the West is experience growing fatigue in helping Ukrainians as they try to push back Russia's invasion.
Farmers and their supporters blew horns and burned smoke bombs in the white-and-red colors of the national flag in front of the Polish parliament in Warsaw before marching to the offices of Prime Minister Donald Tusk. Warsaw city hall estimated that 10,000 people took part.
Protesters want a withdrawal from the EU’s Green Deal, a plan meant to fight climate change and help the environment with measures that they say are too costly.
The protesters are also demanding a ban on the imports of Ukrainian grain and other produce and allege that poorer quality Ukrainian produce is harming the country's food supply and putting its important agricultural sector in jeopardy. They are angry at the EU for lifting tariffs on Ukrainian food imports while Ukraine — a major food producer — sought ways get its food to global markets with war hampering transport in the Black Sea.
The swell of protests across the 27-member EU have become a major challenge for leaders, most of whom strongly support Ukraine but are forced to respond to the rising social anger.
“We want to help Ukraine," Tusk said in Prague, where he traveled for a meeting of regional leaders on
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