Several dissatisfied farmers arrived with lorries loaded with manure and straw in front of the Czech Television building in Prague yesterday, where Agriculture Minister Marek Vyborny (KDU-CSL) was participating in the Questions of Vaclav Moravec debate show.
The minister said he was not concerned by the farmers’ action and that he was not afraid of manure. “This is nothing I would detest, I’m the Minister of Agriculture,” he said.
On Wednesday, Czech farmers will join the joint European protests, involving tractors and other equipment all over the Czech Republic and at the borders.
Vyborny reiterated that the government would allocate extra money for animal welfare this year and next year, and would support rural employment with CZK 2 billion in social insurance payment discounts.
However, given the state of public finances, said Vyborny, the government is unable to meet other demands from the farmers, such as returning property tax to the levels before the government’s austerity package.
Prague police spokesman Jan Rybansky told CTK that police officers had received information of several cars circling the Czech Television premises in Kavci Hory at around 11:30 am. They found at the scene that one of the drivers had taken two bales of straw from the vehicle in front of the TV building, and put them back after the police patrol arrived. The farmers’ vehicles left Kavci hory after noon, Rybansky added.
The police handed the case over to the administrative authorities on suspicion of a misdemeanour.
According to CTK sources, the farmers came to support one of the participants in yesterday’s TV debate. In addition to Vyborny, it was attended by a member of the Chamber of Deputies agriculture committee, MP Margita Balastikova (ANO), and the chairman of the Association of Private Farming, Jaroslav Sebek.
The European farmers’ protests on 20 March will be held ahead of the European Council meeting on March 21. Farmer’s organisations say the aim of the protests is to draw attention to the long unresolved problems of growers and breeders and the deepening crisis in the agricultural sector, not only at the European but also at the national level.
