HOLIC, Slovakia (Reuters) – Czech and Slovak farmers parked dozens of tractors and disrupted operations at a border crossing on Thursday to protest against cheaper imports coming from non-EU markets like Ukraine and South America.
Waves of protests around Europe have occurred in the past year as farmers say they face unfair disadvantages over standards and bureaucracy and demand changes to European Union policies.
Protests on Thursday included farmers from Hungary and Austria, with signs saying ‘Stop grain from Ukraine’ or ‘Green Deal Dead End’, the latter referring to the EU’s climate strategy.
Protests mainly took aim at an agreement between the EU and South America’s Mercosur bloc struck in December, along with imports from Ukraine exempt from duties.
“What affects me… is that I have to fulfil an incredible amount of obligations, paperwork, registration, and the like,” Czech farmer Petr Chaloupka said.
“At the same time I am not able to sell the goods at the price at which they are imported here, either from the east or even from South America.”
Protests occurred at other border areas, CTK news agency reported, including a Polish crossing.
Farmers’ associations have demanded blocking the Mercosur deal and reaching a new agreement with Ukraine protecting EU agriculture, as well as less bureaucracy from the EU.
(Reporting by Radovan Stoklasa, writing by Jason Hovet;Editing by Elaine Hardcastle)
