Czech Farmers to Protest Against EU Agrarian Policy Nationwide on September 15

PRAGUE (Sputnik) - Hundreds of agricultural vehicles and equipment items will jam up the roads in the Czech Republic, including the streets of Prague, on September 15 in protest against the agrarian policy of the EU and the Czech Cabinet, president of the Czech Agrarian Chamber Jan Dolezal said on Monday.

"It is no coincidence that our protest will take place on September 15, on this day the EU agricultural ministers will gather in Prague for holding an informal meeting," Dolezal said at a press conference after a joint meeting of the leadership of the Agrarian Chamber and the Farmers' Union.

The protesters intend to send officials a memorandum prepared by the agrarian chambers of the Visegrad group - the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, and Slovakia, Dolezhal said, adding that their colleagues from Bulgaria, Croatia, Romania and Lithuania also expressed support for the protest.

According to Dolezal, the upcoming protest is designed to draw attention to the impact of the EU Green Deal's environmental measures on agriculture, such as the requirement for a significant reduction in the use of pesticides.

The protest organizers intend to distribute Czech potatoes and apples to the participants of the EU agricultural ministers' meeting, thereby indicating that farmers will be forced to reduce the production due to rising costs and the EU environmental policy.

"If we adopt a new policy of support distribution for agriculture, planned by the EU leadership and our cabinet, and try at any cost to realize the ambitious goals of the European Green Deal in the planned and very short time, until 2030, food made from European products will become an expensive luxury that many will not be able to afford," Chairman of the Agricultural Association Martin Pycha said.

In 2019, the Commission adopted the so-called European Green Deal, intended to cut carbon emissions and build a resource-efficient and eco-friendly economy, with a net carbon neutral target set for 2050. The European Green Deal is supposed to ensure food security in the face of climate change and biodiversity loss and reduce the environmental footprint of the EU food system, while leading a global transition towards competitive sustainability from farm to fork.