Czech farmers dump manure in front of government offices, block Prague streets in renewed protests

Czech farmers on Thursday (March 7) blocked the streets of Prague with tractors and dumped manure in front of government offices as they renewed their protest demanding more support, less bureaucracy and a halt to cheap imports to the EU.

In their third protest since mid-February, Czech farmers gathered in Prague early on Thursday and lined up hundreds of tractors along a river route that led to the government buildings, causing traffic jams and disruptions to certain public transportation.

Police released a statement saying that the farmers had dumped manure on the streets, which led to the arrest of one.

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Agriculture Minister Marek Vyborny reaffirmed that the government would not buckle underpressure.

"I am ready to go and have a fair discussion with farmers," Vyborny said onsocial media platform X.

"I expect an honest approach from the (protest) organisers who promised not to block traffic in Prague. I don't find manure dumped on tram tracks to be such an approach," read the post byVyborny.

The Czech Agrarian Chamber has demanded reduced property taxes for farmland, programs to boost employment in farming, and subsidies matching 2022 levels.

It has also called for the government to help tackle a surplus in EU markets that has been spurred on by cheap imports.

"The situation ... is not good and is constantly getting worse," the chamber's president, Jan Dolezal, said ahead of the protests.

"When the political will of the ruling coalition has been lacking for two years, we have to publicly ask for help," he added.

Farmer protests across EU

Farmers across the Europen Union this year have staged demonstrations demanding the removal of restrictions placed on them due to a Green Deal plan that was put in place to combat climate change.

They have also called for customs duties on farm products from Ukraine to be reimposed.

Thousands of Polish farmers took to the streets on Wednesday (March 6) and protested outside the prime minister's office in Warsaw, setting tyres ablaze and hurling firecrackers.

"Due to physical aggression against police officers by some of the people protesting ... it was necessary to use direct coercive measures," Warsaw police wrote in a post on X.

Poland's Interior Minister Marcin Kierwinski said in a post on X said "23 provocateurs have been detained".

Last month farmers in Brussels burnt tyres outsidean EU farm ministers' meeting.

(With inputs from agencies)