Farmers' protest in Warsaw

As many as 200 farmers gathered in front of the Ministry of Agriculture to demand subsidies for milk and pork production and compensations for damages caused by wild boars. On Wednesday morning, 140 tractors were headed for Warsaw, although farmers agreed to leave their vehicles on the outskirts. In the afternoon, the farmers were blocking one of Warsaw's exit roads. Around 20 minutes after the scheduled negotiations between the Ministry of Agriculture and the farmers had started, Stanisław Izdebski, head of the farmers' union, left the meeting. He said that the government had invited, apart from the union, the agriculture organizations which side with the ministry and not with the farmers. “A terrible thing has happened today. The minister of agriculture, who supposedly comes from the countryside, stood on the side of the ruling Civic Platform (PO) and foreign capital, and not on the side of Polish farmers,” Izdebski said. “I will not negotiate with those traitors anymore,” he added. “Only one organization out of the 12 who had come left the negotiations,” Minister of Agriculture Marek Sawicki said. “Expectations that the minister will determine prices are illogical,” he added. Izdebski announced, that the farmers will unite with the miners to “invade” Warsaw next week. As many as 100,000 people will come to protest against “this anti-people, anti-Polish government,” he threatened.