Two important border crossings with Germany blocked by Polish farmers

The struggle continues for Polish farmers who have resumed blockades at the border with Germany, blocking access to two important crossing points, at Swiecko and Gubinek. They are continuing their protests against the regulations of the European Green Deal and imports of products from outside the EU. “The blockade began on Sunday and will continue until Wednesday evening,” Marcin Maludy, a spokesperson for the local police, said on Monday. “Both lanes of the A2 motorway are cut,” he said.

The farmers had already organized a brief blockade at the Slubice border crossing at the end of February. Farmer protests have been taking place for several weeks in Poland, with farmers blocking roads across the country and border crossings with Ukraine.

Meetings between the Polish minister and farmers are scheduled for Tuesday. The European Commission has already proposed to relax, or even eliminate, part of the strict “green” criteria that the new Common Agricultural Policy (2023-2027), which entered into force last year, requires farmers to respect in order to receive benefits. European payments. Member states and MEPs should examine these proposals quickly with a view to possibly endorsing them by the end of April.

Poland has been among Ukraine's greatest supporters since the launch of the Russian offensive in February 2022, but their relations have been poisoned in recent months by commercial disputes, in particular by the opening, by Brussels, of European borders to Ukrainian agricultural products which, according to Polish farmers, do not meet EU standards.