Kaczyński rallies supporters for massive march in Warsaw against Green Deal, Ukraine imports

The leader of the Polish opposition party Law and Justice (PiS) Jaroslaw Kaczyński is gathering his supporters for a large demonstration in Warsaw on May 18 against the EU Green Deal and agricultural imports from Ukraine.

The PiS leader said this during a party meeting on Saturday, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.

According to him, the massive rally is aimed at persuading the parliamentary majority to pass a resolution on the issues concerning Europe’s Green Deal and the embargo on Ukrainian grain.

Kaczyński added he would do everything possible to ensure that "there is no import from Ukraine, which has led to wheat prices dropping lower than cultivation costs."

However, he added that the march will take place even if the Green Deal is canceled and an embargo on Ukrainian agricultural products is introduced.

As reporter earlier, in mid-February, the PiS party called on Poland’s authorities to impose a full ban on the agricultural imports from Ukraine.

In April 2023, the PiS-led government introduced a one-week ban on a wide range of foodstuffs from Ukraine. A week later, Mateusz Morawiecki's government lifted the ban on Ukrainian products in exchange for the European Commission agreeing to embargo Ukrainian grain crops (wheat, corn, rapeseed, and sunflower) until June 2023 – the ban later extended until September 15. After Brussels refused to further prolong the embargo, Poland did so unilaterally. The new government, led by Donald Tusk, after coming to power last December, chose not to lift the existing ban.

Since February 9, 2024, farmers have been protesting on Poland’s motorways leading to checkpoints on the border with Ukraine. Their main demands include a ban on the import of Ukrainian agricultural products and Poland's withdrawal from the European Green Deal.