Tusk says he won't meet with farmers protesting in parliament
Prime Minister Donald Tusk has said that he will not meet with farmers who have been occupying parliament grounds in protest against imports from Ukraine and EU regulations.
A group of 11 farmers from the Polish Farmers’ Union, Orka, who started their sit-in at the Sejm, lower house of parliament last Thursday, are demanding a meeting with Tusk to talk about the Green Deal.
They claim that the European plan to make farming more eco-friendly, puts too much administrative burden on farmers.
On Monday, the farmers protesting in the Sejm began a hunger strike.
But on Tuesday, Tusk told a press conference after the government meeting that he does not plan to meet "this group of protesters."
"They are not representative of Polish farmers," he said.
Polish farmers have for months been staging protests across the country against the influx of cheap agricultural goods from Ukraine, which they say have undercut their businesses, and against the Green Deal.
The farmer's branch of the Solidarity trade union has recently warned that Green Deal-related spending "will be harmful to citizens" and that "many people will lose their jobs, many will be affected by energy poverty." (PAP)
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