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Hundreds of Czech farmers descended on Prague Monday to protest high energy costs, cheap goods from Ukraine and the EU’s Green Deal.
The farmers, who intend to disrupt traffic and cause blockades, plan to deliver a list of demands to Czech Agriculture Minister Marek Výborný. Their demands include Czechia withdrawing from the Green Deal.
Outside the Agriculture Ministry, farmers gathered and yelled “Shame” and “Resign” in comments directed at the minister, who has announced he would not speak to the organizers of the protests. Výborný accused Bohumír Dufek and the former president of the Agrarian Chamber, Zdeněk Jandejsek, of pursuing their own political goals and not representing Czech farmers.
“Today’s demonstration does not have much in common with the fight for better conditions for farmers,” Prime Minister Petr Fiala said on X. “The demonstration is organized by people who, for example, do not hide their support for the Kremlin and pursue goals other than the interests of farmers.”
“We deal with those who really represent farmers and talk together about what our agriculture needs,” Fiala added.
Dufek strongly denied the allegations. “That’s exactly the labeling as it was under the Communists, when everyone was assigned a mark in their files,” he said in an interview with the Czech outlet Seznam Zpravy.
He asked Výborný to invite all agricultural groups to the table in order to negotiate. Large industry organizations such as the Agrarian Chamber or the Agricultural Union are not participating in the protest, as they have distanced themselves from Monday’s gathering. They are preparing another protest against EU border policy on Thursday.
In recent weeks, agricultural groups across Europe have protested the EU’s Green Deal. In an attempt to placate farmers ahead of European elections in June, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has already withdrawn a bill to halve the use of chemical pesticides by 2030.
