Polish Opposition Leader Urges EU Agriculture Chief to Quit

Piotr Bujnicki and Natalia Ojewska
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(Bloomberg) -- Polish opposition leader Jaroslaw Kaczynski called on the European Union’s agriculture commissioner, Janusz Wojciechowski, to step down after his party ally made remarks that appeared to defend the bloc’s farm policies.

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Kaczynski, the nation’s most powerful politician before his Law & Justice party was ousted from power last year, told reporters on Friday that he’ll call Wojciechowski to ask him to end his term after he made “unfortunate statements.” The commissioner had pushed back on farmers’ criticism in a social media post, listing steps the EU had taken in response.

Europe is currently confronting widespread farmer protests. Polish farmers on Friday launched a monthlong strike against what they describe as the uncontrolled influx of food products from Ukraine as well as the EU’s agricultural and climate polices — piling pressure on the new cabinet of Prime Minister Donald Tusk.

Protesters sought to cause havoc on Poland’s roads as farmers drove tractors slowly and set up roadblocks. They also re-established blockades at the Ukrainian border.

“We expect from the government a declaration to impose a deposit system or a ban on additional food products,” Tomasz Obszanski, head of the Solidarity Farmers movement, told Bloomberg.

Agriculture Minister Czeslaw Siekierski said he’s open to dialog with the farmers. In a radio interview early Friday, he said he’s asking the European Commission to add Ukrainian sugar and poultry products to existing grain restrictions. Tusk plans to hold talks with the Ukrainian government next month to lock in a bilateral agreement that would resolve the trade tensions.

--With assistance from Mark Sweetman.

(Updates with farmer protests, comments from third paragraph.)

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