Farmers say “Straight”, which is what they are fed up with. “We are living on fumes. “We have exhausted all our savings.”
Benedykt does not believe that Tusk will listen to farmers, but Krzysztof believes that the government deserves another chance. However, everyone is counting their losses, and some say that they are already “living on fumes” and do not know whether they will go to the field in the spring. This is what we heard from the protesting farmers.
Farmers blocked roads all over Poland, drove tractors into cities, and protested at the border crossings with Ukraine. Finally, they came to Warsaw, where they shouted their demands in front of the Sejm, amid the noise of firecrackers and smoke from flares. A delegation of farmers went to meet Marshal Szymon Hołownia, but when they returned, they were booed by the protesters. Little came of the talks.
According to farmers, specific details were also missing at the meeting with the head of the Chancellery of the Prime Minister, Jan Grabiec. That's why they announced that they would not leave the barricades, they would continue to “block Poland” and they would come to Warsaw again.
– This is my life, this is my activity, this is my strength, but it is weak – declares Benedykt, one of the farmers who came from Greater Poland for the protest.
– I don't believe Tusk will listen to us. Farmers have always disturbed those in power. That's how it was during PiS, that's how it is now. A farmer doesn't go out on the streets on his own whim, there is always an excuse, a right excuse. And the fact that Hołownia wants to talk to us – he snorts. – He's a pawn who can do very little. The government keeps a great distance from us and does not want to notice us.
– Do you think we have nothing to do on the farm, we can just come and protest? – Krzysztof, another farmer from Greater Poland, asks rhetorically. – We have a lot of work, but we were forced to come here. The policies of our government and the European Union force us to do this. We have no influence on what we do on our farm, we have to listen to what the officials come up with – he says indignantly.