Slovak and Czech farmers block border in protest against food import agreement

Farmers and food producers from the Czech Republic and Slovakia gathered at the Hodonín–Holíč border crossing on Thursday to protest, bringing dozens of heavy agricultural machines. Representatives of Hungarian and Austrian farmers joined them. The protest aims to express opposition to the Mercado Común del Sur (Mercosur) agreement and food imports from third countries.

According to Andrej Gajdoš, chairperson of the Slovak Chamber of Agriculture and Food, the border will be completely closed on Thursday from 10:00 a.m. to approximately 12:00 p.m.
Jan Doležal, president of the Czech Chamber of Agriculture, stated that third countries routinely use substances that are banned in Europe.

Farmers expect politicians to consider their arguments and demand that agri-food products be exempted from trade agreements with third countries. Doležal added that similar protests are also taking place in Poland, Romania, and France.

Source: Pravda