Hundreds of farmers demonstrated on Monday in the streets of Prague. But the protest divides the profession, due to the presence of pro-Russian disinformants.
Monster traffic jams this Monday in the center of Prague. Hundreds of activists blocked the roads of the Czech capital to denounce, among other things, the rise in fuel prices, foreign competition and the rules imposed by the European Union.
Agriculture Minister Marek Výborný says he is listening to demands : “In the future, it is not possible that our farmers will be in a worse situation than German, Polish, Latvian or any other EU farmers. The rules must apply equally to all .”
Protesters call to abolish the European Green Dealwhich they find too bureaucratic and too demanding of European farmers, who cannot cope with competition outside the EU.
“We came here because we don’t like the measures imposed by the EU. We would like to reduce bureaucracy, less paperwork and increase the purchase prices a little” explains a protester.
“We must be self-sufficient, produce our own food and not import it from Ukraine” adds his colleague.
“I do not agree and I fight against the Green Deal because the Green Deal is killing Czech agriculture” says another farmer.
Further afield, pro-EU protesters say angry farmers are misinformed : “these are confused people. The EU will take care of everything, just like it solved the energy – gas crisis – it will also take care of this one” declared a demonstrator.
Because mobilization divides even within the profession. Some farmers believe that the demonstrators who went to Prague are influenced by or close to the pro-Russian scene or the lobbies of large agri-food groups. local.
These groups would seek to destabilize Czech society a few months before the European elections and the next local elections.
