Riot police called in to throw protesters out of agriculture ministry

At least 300 Polish farmers, already fearing a government cave-in over farm subsidies in European Union (EU) entry talks, occupied the agriculture ministry yesterday for several hours in protest against the slump in produce prices, and the price of milk in particular. The final spark that lit the protest came when the ministry offered only 7 grosze per liter subsidy on milk, farmers were furious as they claim the price of milk has fallen by 30 grosze since December. Various farmers groups mobilized and under the leadership of Samoobrona leader Andrzej Lepper, they forced their way into the ministry and demanded to meet Agriculture Minister Jaroslaw Kalinowski, but were told he was away. After a noisy five-hour occupation, when they shouted anti-government and anti-European Union (EU) slogans, riot police cleared the protesters out of the building. Fists flew, windows were broken and one injured man was taken to hospital by ambulance. Police said there were no arrests and the protesters eventually dispersed. The protest was probably a pretext, for Lepper knows that after each protest his popularity among the public increases, and local elections scheduled for the autumn are drawing closer. "This is just the start of a wave of protests," promised Lepper, whose party now runs second in opinion polls. (Reuters)