> >Subject: [STOPNATO] Polish Farmers Declare War Over EU Membership >To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >: > >STOP NATO: NO PASARAN! - HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.HOME-PAGE.ORG > > >Polish farmers declare war over EU membership > >Thousands of smallholders claim they are being pushed >to the wall in the Warsaw government's rush to >negotiate with Brussels on entry >The European Commission: special report > >Tony Paterson in Augustow, north-east Poland >Tuesday April 18, 2000 >The Guardian > >Poland's politicians may be embracing early membership >of the European Union but its farmers are furious >about the move, which could wipe out their >livelihoods. > >This week, as the European commission finalises its >draft plan for the inclusion of Poland, Hungary, the >Czech Republic, Estonia, Slovenia and Cyprus in the >union, many of the fields around Augustow remain a >wasteland. > >"Polish agriculture is already ruined," said one >farmer, Stanislaw Bojkowski, 67, who tills 50 acres >near Augustow. > >"Farming was worthwhile under communism, but Warsaw's >European Union madness is driving us out of business." > > >He is not alone. According to estimates from the >Polish Peasants' party, only 600,000 of the country's >2m farms will survive the process of joining the EU. > >Yet Warsaw's liberal-conservative coalition government >is adamant that Poland must join as soon as possible. > >Mr Bojkowski is cultivating only half of his land this >year - he cannot afford the fertilisers needed for the >rest. > >"The money I get for the wheat and potatoes I manage >to produce hardly makes it worthwhile. The bulk of my >income these days derives from my old-age pension," he >said. > >Two miles away, Mieczyslaw Suchocki, 43, has tried to >offset his farming losses by taking a share in a >grocery store. > >In the 1980s his 74-acre farm, producing potatoes, >wheat and tobacco, was subsidised by the state. A >single tobacco crop earned Mr Suchocki enough to buy a >car. > >Now the terms of growing are set by the multinational >British American Tobacco company. "Starting next year, >BAT is only buying tobacco from farmers who plant and >dry it with the special drying equipment we can buy >from them. > >"I would need a $10,000 loan to purchase the equipment >and I simply can't afford it. Producing tobacco on a >small scale is out," he said. > >The collapse of small-scale farming is a dilemma faced >by all the EU candidate countries but it is acute in >Poland, where some 26% of the working population is in >agriculture. > >Roman Jagielinski of the Polish Peasants' party argues >that the state must make social security provision for >farmers forced out of business. He wants the rest to >receive subsidies from Brussels. > >But Brussels has so far turned a deaf ear. The common >agricultural policy subsidy budget, which amounts to >more than �25bn a year in direct aid to EU farmers, >has been fixed until 2006. > >It contains no provision for EU candidate countries, >although Poland is still aiming for a 2003 entry date. > > >The anger of Polish farmers boiled over last year, >when the militant agricultural workers' union >Samoobrona (Self- Defence) staged countrywide protests >against the flood of cheap EU imports. > >This persuaded Warsaw to temporarily ban grain imports >and raise the amounts paid for home-grown pork. > >But the moves were not enough to satisfy Samoobrona's >leader, Andrej Lepper, who will run as a candidate in >the presidential election this autumn. > >"Poland is not being treated as a partner by the EU. >We are simply being used as a dumping ground for their >surplus products," he said. > >Two-thirds of large farm owners recently declared >their readiness to take part in further militant >protests. > > >__________________________________________________ >Do You Yahoo!? >Send online invitations with Yahoo! Invites. >http://invites.yahoo.com > > >______________________________________________________________________ >To unsubscribe, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED] >---------------------------------------------------------------------- >Advertisement: >Workstation with Monitor under $800! >So, you just heard that you need to add how many new workstations by >the end of next week? Check out the bundle below. It includes >everything you need to get everyone up and running quickly. >http://www.listbot.com/links/cdw5 > __________________________________ KOMINFORM P.O. Box 66 00841 Helsinki - Finland +358-40-7177941, fax +358-9-7591081 e-mail [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.kominf.pp.fi ___________________________________ [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe/unsubscribe messages mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] ___________________________________
