WARSAW (Reuters) – Polish farmers set off flares and firecrackers and pelted a European Commission office with eggs in the western city of Wroclaw on Thursday, the state news agency PAP reported, and organisers quickly tried to break up the protest.
Farmers across Europe are protesting against constraints placed on them by EU measures to tackle climate change, as well as rising costs and what they say is unfair competition from abroad, particularly Ukraine.
“The protest started at 10 a.m., at around 10:10 or 10:15 it was broken up by the organisers, they asked the people to disperse,” said Monika Dubec, a spokesperson at Wroclaw City Hall.
According to organisers there were around 1,000 protesters and 500 tractors and other farm vehicles at the demonstration, she said.
Footage from private broadcaster TVN24 showed protesters marching through the streets carrying Polish flags, banners and in some cases carrying flares. The farmers congregated in front of the regional government headquarters where they lit a big bonfire, with smoke rising into the air.
Despite the organisers’ request to disperse, the footage showed many did not.
Polish farmers plan a total blockade of all border crossings with Ukraine and a major protest in the capital Warsaw on Feb. 20.
(Reporting by Alan Charlish; Editing by Ros Russell)
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