MFA condemns anti-Ukrainian slogans at farmers' protest

Farmers across Europe have been demonstrating over a range of grievances, including constraints placed on them by European Union measures to tackle climate change, and what they say is unfair competition from abroad, particularly Ukraine, after an EU decision in 2022 to waive duties on Ukrainian food imports.

The Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a statement denouncing anti-Ukrainian and pro-Putin slogans that appeared during the countrywide protest of farmers.

A banner spread at a tractor during the protest in Gorzyczki in southern Poland said: "Putin, sort out Ukraine and Brussels, and our government too".

"The scandalous banner, a photo of which went viral online, was immediately removed and secured," Interior Minister Marcin Kierwiński said on Tuesday.

"These kinds of actions show Poland in a bad light - a country that was first to help the attacked Ukraine - as well as Poles who have welcomed Ukrainian refugees. Significantly, they also compromise the organizers of the protest," the foreign ministry said in a statement released on Wednesday.

According to the MFA, "it is an attempt to take over the farmers protest movement by extremist and irresponsible groups, possibly influenced by Russian services".

The ministry also urged organizers of the protests to try to identify instigators of such actions and eliminate them from their movement, in order to protect the rightful cause of the demonstration. "The current situation of Polish farmers has been caused by Vladimir Putin's aggression against Ukraine and the global economy unsteadiness, and not by the Ukrainians who defend themselves against this aggression."

Protests by Polish farmers sparked anger in neighbouring Ukraine, as Kyiv called on the European Commission to take robust action after demonstrators blockaded the border and opened railway carriages to let grain spill out.

Warsaw has been a staunch supporter of Kyiv in its fight to repel a full-scale Russian invasion launched in 2022, but protests from farmers complaining of unfair competition have strained ties that were already on edge after truckers blocked border crossings around the turn of the year.

The protests from farmers marked an escalation from previous demonstrations, with a near-total blockade of all Ukrainian border crossings and disruption at ports and on roads nationwide.

Television footage showed protesters at the Medyka border crossing opening railway carriages to allow grain to pour onto the tracks.