Czech farmers on tractors clogged the streets of Prague yesterday in their latest protest demanding more help from the government and a halt to imports of cheap agricultural products into the European Union. Rallying in front of government buildings, they jeered Agriculture Minister Marek Vyborny who criticised the farmers for dumping manure on the street and bringing city traffic to a stop when he addressed the demonstration.
Farmers across Europe have been taking to the streets this year, in a recurring push for the removal of restrictions placed on them by the EU’s Green Deal plan to tackle climate change and a call to restore customs duties on farm products from Ukraine.
In their third protest since mid-February, the Czech farmer poured into Prague on hundreds of tractors, lining the streets and a riverside route that leads to the government offices. Public transport ground to a halt during morning rush hour in several parts of the Czech capital. The street leading to the government office was completely blocked. Apologizing for the inconvenience caused to commuters, Martin Pycha, head of the Czech Agricultural Association, one of the protest organizers, stated that this was never their intention. “Our goal is to present the problems in agriculture,” he declared.
The farmers gathered in front of the government building, blowing whistles and sounding sirens as they shouted “shame” while scattering bales of hay and waving signs saying “Don’t take our jobs”. In calling for reduced taxation on farmland ownership, the farmers insist that the EU subsidies they receive should be tax-exempt. They complain about the low prices their products are fetching, claiming grain and other agriculture products coming from Ukraine and other countries are undercutting their market.
Prime Minister Petr Fiala said he and the Ministers of Agriculture and Finance had repeatedly negotiated with the farmers and that he had no intention of “giving in to pressure, blackmail, blocking streets, or restricting people’s lives”.such as had occurred during the day in Prague.
“Last week we agreed that next year we will increase the amount we support farmers by 2 billion crowns”, he said pointedly, noting that this had not pleased leadership in the Agrarian Chamber and the Agricultural Union. “If the leadership of the Agrarian Chamber is not able to lead a dialogue, bring it to an end and resorts to these actions, they must also bear responsibility for their results”, the Prime Minister posted on X.
Farmers maintain that they are the ones being put under pressure by the government and EU policies. The Agrarian Chamber is demanding subsidies that match 2022 levels and wants programmes to support employment in farming, as well as a reduction in the farmland property tax. It is also calling on the government to tackle the surplus in EU markets caused by cheap imports.
