WARSAW (Reuters) – Polish farmers blockaded the Medyka border crossing with Ukraine on Thursday, private broadcaster Polsat News reported, resuming a protest intended to secure government subsidies for corn and prevent tax increases.
The farmers, who are demanding a written agreement with the government, had suspended their protest at the crossing in southeastern Poland on Dec. 24 after a meeting with Agriculture Minister Czeslaw Siekierski.
Protest leader Roman Kondrow was quoted by Polsat News as saying the farmers were happy with talks they had with the minister and the local governor, but that they wanted a formal agreement.
On Wednesday Kondrow, said that although Siekierski had provided a note telling the farmers their demands would be met, the prime minister had not given a signed declaration.
“We want to sign a bilateral agreement,” Kondrow told a press conference on Thursday. “If such a thing is created, the protest will be suspended until the demands are implemented.”
Polish truck drivers have been blocking several border crossings with Ukraine since Nov. 6. They want the European Union to reinstate a reciprocal system that requires Ukrainian companies to obtain permits to operate in the bloc.
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said in December that he believed Warsaw was close to being able to end the truckers’ protest.
(Reporting by Alan Charlish and Anna Koper, Editing by Timothy Heritage)
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