Dozens of vehicles of protesting farmers arrived at the Agriculture Ministry early this morning, and other tractors blocked one lane of a main road in the centre of Prague around 7am.
Hundreds of tractors and other farming vehicles have been travelling to Prague as part of the protest, but the largest Czech agricultural organisations have distanced themselves from the demonstration.
Outside the ministry, there is a line of tractors, trucks and cars, some of them decorated with Czech flags, and slogans directed to the Prime Minister, such as “We Are Farmers, not supporters of Russia, Fiala!”.
Some farmers stopped their vehicles on the main road outside the National Museum in Wenceslas Square.
The protesters aimed to express their disagreement with the current situation in Czech farming. “This event is intended to support the Czech public, to make the government aware that we are actually slaves of the European Union now,” Jiri Jirsa, who had travelled from the Sedlcany district to protest, told CTK in front of the National Museum. “Farmers are buying tractors, seeds and everything else for the same money as the Germans, Dutch or French, but they only receive 50% of the subsidies.”
The farmers submitted a letter to Agriculture Minister Marek Vyborny (KDU-CSL), demanding that the Czech government withdraw from the EU Green Deal.
Some of the protesters started leaving Prague’s motorway with their equipment earlier this afternoon, and most of them are returning home, the police wrote on Twitter (styled as ‘X’) just before 2pm.
Milos Maly, the protest coordinator for the areas of Usti nad Labem and Litomerice, spoke out on Czech Television about the “stolen protest”. He said some farmers did not like the shouting of anti-government slogans and wanted a peaceful protest. According to Novinky.cz, approximately 230 people and the same number of vehicles are returning home.
The organisers of the protest include Bohumir Dufek, chairman of the Agricultural and Food Workers Trade Union and the Czech Association of Free Trade Unions, and Zdenek Jandejsek, former president of the Agrarian Chamber.
Vyborny told CTK that he preferred negotiations at a round table over protests in the streets, adding that the organisers of the protest are following their own political goals and do not represent Czech farmers.
Vyborny said he would discuss possible changes and concrete steps with major non-governmental agricultural organisations.
The protesters told CTK that they were mainly opposed to high energy prices, red tape, and the terms of the Green Deal. The minister came out to meet the protesters and journalists, and talked to some of the participants in the protest. Some protesters booed at him, whistled, and shouted “Shame”.
According to police information, up to 1,000 tractors and other motor vehicles were heading for Prague to join the protest today. Later in the afternoon, a demonstration of farmers was planned in Malostranske namesti, close to the seats of parliament.
The protest’s spokesman, Daniel Sterzik, said more than 500 tractors came to Prague today, along with about 4,000 cars of supporters. He told CTK that the protests would last until Tuesday.
Barbora Pankova, spokeswoman for the Czech Agrarian Chamber, said the body understands that farmers are desperate about the attitude of Czech and EU politicians, and has therefore called on them to join the Europe-wide protests planned for Thursday. However, Sterzik said that one of the reasons why the protests were being held today was the passiveness of the Agrarian Chamber.
The protests did not significantly disrupt public transport.
