Summary of the day
Farmers protested in Spain and Greece.
In Madrid, columns of hundreds of tractors entered the city.
Greek farmers drove their tractors out of central Athens, after spending the night in front of parliament.
Poland’s foreign ministry denounced pro-Putin and anti-Ukrainian slogans at farmers’ protests there, saying they were “possibly” influenced by Russia.
The Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, has called on Poland’s leadership to meet with Ukrainian counterparts amid Polish farmers’ border blockade.
Christiane Lambert, president of farmers lobby Copa-Cogeca, said this morning that the organisation has sent the EU more than 50 proposals for simplification.
The president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, who is seeking a second term in office, said she wants to work only with pro-European, pro-Nato and pro-Ukrainian political groups.
Manfred Weber, leader of the centre-right European People’s party, said “our red line is clearly defined … it is about ‘yes’ to Europe, it is about ‘yes’ to Ukraine and it is about ‘yes’ to rule of law.”
Weber also pledged to prioritise a Europe-wide defence policy in the next EU parliament.
Here are the latest images from Madrid, where farmers are protesting today.
Ukraine calls for urgent talks with Polish government
The Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, has called on Poland’s leadership to meet with Ukrainian counterparts at the border.
“The border blockade, unfortunately, increases the threat to the supply of weapons tour warriors on the front lines,” the Ukrainian president wrote on social media.
He added:
I urge you, Donald, Mr. Prime Minister, to come to the border as well. And, Andrzej, Mr. President, I urge you to support this dialogue as well. This is about national security. This must not be delayed.
The next few days will give us the opportunity to do so. I am also ready to come to the border alongside our government.
In light of the situation on the Ukrainian-Polish border, I would like to address everyone who remembers the full meaning of the word "solidarity." The word that transformed our entire Europe's history for the better. This was the case. And, in many ways, it still is.
— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) February 21, 2024
However,…
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Manfred Weber, leader of the centre-right European People’s party, has also pledged to prioritise a Europe-wide defence policy in the next EU parliament.
Going further than other EU politicians, and likely to the delight of Donald Trump, he said it was time for Europe to stand on its own two feet and not rely on the US.
In the long run “330 or 340 million Americans will not defend more than 400 million Europeans. So we have to take over our responsibility. That is the main message of today,” he said.
He will be backing the creation of a new defence portfolio with its own brand new commissioner in Brussels, something already mooted by European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen.
“We would save billions of European taxpayers money if we would follow the proposal now from Ursula von der Leyen to come to a common market on defence goods and products,” he told reporters.
He was speaking after von der Leyen said she could not be working with parties that “divide” the EU, be they Eurosceptics or “Putin’s friends”.
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The leader of the centre-right political alliance in the EU predicts that extremist parties will end up homeless in the new European parliament.
German MEP Manfred Weber, the leader of the European People’s Party (EPP), said there were already indications that the European Conservative and Reformists Group, home to parties including the Polish Law and Justice (PiS) and Giorgia Meloni’s Brothers of Italy did not have the stomach for Putin-friendly parties.
They hope to promote the rupturing of the ECR, which was founded at the behest of David Cameron and was supposed to be an alternative to the EPP, by appealing to voters’ desires for future EU security in the upcoming elections.
“What I can see already is a development of an internal, quite cruel fight…After Viktor Orbán said that he wants to join ECR then immediately the Czech delegation in the ECR said publicly ‘we don’t want to be in one camp with Viktor’,” he said in a press conference on Wednesday.
He added that “the Swedish and Finnish populistic parties” were also repulsed his behaviour at Nato – where Hungary has delayed Sweden’s accession – said they did not want his party to be part of the group after the election.
Weber underscored there are ongoing quarrels in the ECR camp and argued that they will not deliver on citizens’ concerns.
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EPP chief outlines a ‘red line’ for ‘extremists’
Manfred Weber, the German MEP and leader of the centre-right political grouping in the European parliament, has also vowed not to work with extremists and the far-right after the upcoming EU elections which are expected to see the makeup of the parliament lurch to the right.
“We have now polls European-wide which are quite worrisome, because those who are the parties who are campaigning against Europe, who are the friends of Putin, are getting stronger and stronger, and that is extremely worrisome for us,” he told reporters at the official launch of Ursula von der Leyen’s candidacy for a second five-year term at the helm of the European Commission.
He said it was critical for EU citizens to come out and vote.
“So my message as EPP leader [is to] take the election seriously. Please, dear citizens, take the elections seriously, a lot is at stake.
“Our red line is clearly defined … it is about ‘yes’ to Europe, it is about ‘yes’ to Ukraine and it is about ‘yes’ to rule of law, the three key principles which we stand for, and that is our red line to all extremists on this continent.”
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Ursula von der Leyen rejects cooperation with extremist parties
The European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, has said she will never work with extremist parties such as AfD in Germany or Marine Le Pen’s National Rally party in France, no matter how big a vote they get in the next European elections.
She said such parties crossed a red line for pro-Europeans like her and the centre-right political grouping to which she belongs, the European People’s Party.
“I work with pro-European, pro-Nato, pro-Ukrainian, clearly supporters of our democratic values,” she said launching her official campaign for a second five-year mandate as the president of the commission.
The question of who the EPP will work with in the next EU parliament has become a critical one with the rise of extremism across Europe and polls project significant gains for populist parties in Germany, France, Italy and other countries.
“Every European election brings a change in the composition of different political parties and different political groups [in the parliament], so the content counts.
“Those who are defending democracy against the Eurosceptics, and those who are defending our values against Putin’s friends, these are the ones with which I want to work,” she said.
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Campaign Corner: Slovakia
As the campaign kicks off for the June European elections, more parties are presenting their candidates.
Yesterday, Progressive Slovakia unveiled more names on its list.
Besides former technocrat prime minister Ľudovít Ódor, the list will also include former top adviser on EU affairs Lubica Karvasova, current MEPs Martin Hojsík and Michal Wiezik, and journalist Veronika Ostrihoňová.
S takýmito ľuďmi na palube Fica a spol. dokážeme v európskych voľbách poraziť.
— Ludovit Odor (@LudoOdor) February 21, 2024
Ďakujem, @LubicaKarvasova a Veronika Cifrová Ostrihoňová🤝 pic.twitter.com/zZrHAye3hx
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Poland denounces 'attempt to take over the agricultural protest' amid controversy over pro-Putin banner
Poland’s foreign ministry denounced pro-Putin and anti-Ukrainian slogans at farmers’ protests there, saying they were “possibly” influenced by Russia, AFP reported.
During the protests yesterday against competition from imports of cheaper Ukrainian products, farmers in southern Poland unfurled a banner saying “Putin, get Ukraine, Brussels and our government in order”.
The Polish foreign ministry said:
We believe that this is an attempt to take over the agricultural protest movement by extreme and irresponsible groups, possibly under the influence of Russian agents.
There are also tractoradas taking place now in Murcia in southeast Spain, as well as in Málaga in Andalucía.
Greek farmers leave Athens after protests
Greek farmers drove their tractors out of central Athens today, Reuters reported.
The protesting farmers had spent the night in front of parliament.
At least 8,000 farmers, beekeepers and livestock breeders protested in the city on Tuesday. “We made the move and now we are waiting for the result,” farmer Konstantinos Kyriakopoulos, 34, told Reuters.
Here are the latest photos from today’s protest in Madrid.
Are you there? Send your comments to lili.bayer@theguardian.com.
Farmers drive 500 tractors in Madrid
Five columns of tractors, around 500 in total, are converging on Madrid today in the latest round of protests by Spanish farmers. The regional government says it has blocked 150 tractors, in excess of the 500 agreed, from entering the city.
Luis Cortés, coordinator of the union that called the protest, has demanded that the tractors be allowed to pass, claiming the government is “violating the right to protest”.
Madrileños have been advised not to drive in the city. Last week a similar action brought Barcelona to a standstill.
Miguel Sánchez, 23, one of the farmers blockading the ministry of agriculture, said bystanders greeted them with applause. “We’re very grateful for all the support we’re been receiving,” he said.
The farmers are protesting over what they claim is unfair competition from cheap food produced outside the EU, the rise in the cost of production, environmental restrictions such as the use of pesticides, cuts in subsidies and excessive bureaucracy.
They are demanding immediate action over prices and want the government to end negotiations over food imports with Latin American countries, as well as New Zealand, Australia and India.
The movement has produced a new Spanish word, una tractorada, a tractor protest.
French PM tries to defuse farmers' anger amid fears of further protests
The French prime minister, Gabriel Attal, made a last ditch attempt to defuse farmers’ anger in the run up to the 60th annual Salon d’Agriculture in Paris that president Emmanuel Macron is due to open on Saturday.
French farmers have been carrying out a number of protest actions in the last few days to up pressure on the government, including visiting supermarkets to load trolleys full of foreign-produced food products, dumping manure in front of official buildings and go-slow operations on roads across the country.
At a press conference on Wednesday morning, Attal outlined what many are unofficially calling “Operation Defuse” in the run up to Saturday.
He insisted agriculture was a government priority and described it as one of “France’s fundamental interests”, while the emphasis was on the country working towards food “sovereignty”.
The government has promised that a new agriculture law would be published at the end of this week, debated in the spring and a cross-party parliamentary committee set up to discuss its contents in June.
Macron is not one to shy away from a heated exchange but Elysée officials are concerned that his visit to the salon could be marred by protests.
Farmers have been demonstrating their anger at a raft of issues including claims of increased bureaucracy from EU regulations, controls on the use of pesticides, rising fuel costs and unfair competition from abroad. The scale and fury of the protests has surprised officials.
Among the announcements made by Attal and other ministers on Wednesday: checks on food producers claiming their products are made in France were being upped and legal action taken against those that did not conform, economy minister Bruno Le Maire said.
Attal added there would be “product by product” checks on foods produced outside the EU containing pesticides banned across the continent to ensure they were stopped.
If it is banned for our farmers, then it shouldn’t be coming in.
Attal also announced he government would make it easier for farms to hire seasonal workers requiring visas, reform the farmers’ pensions system and hold a conference to discuss how to find solutions to farmers’ grievances.
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Farmers' lobby calls for simplification of EU rules
Christiane Lambert, president of farmers lobby Copa-Cogeca, said this morning that the organisation has sent the EU more than 50 proposals for simplification.
The European Commission, she said, “must take into account the new context” of the war in Ukraine, climate and inflation.
Food sovereignty, she added, “can no longer be weakened at the risk of dangerous dependencies.”
Il faut raisonner en Européen !
— Christiane Lambert (@ChLambert_FNSEA) February 21, 2024
À marche unique => règles uniques !
Lundi 26/02 la #simplification est à l’ordre du jour du Conseil agricole 🇪🇺: @COPACOGECA a adressé + de 50 propositions de simplification… de bon sens !
La @EU_Commission a commencé à ajuster certaines… https://t.co/kb7i7EmAX1
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Greek farmers protest in Athens
Greek farmers are protesting for a second day.
Kathimerini reports that farmers honked their tractor horns in front of parliament after spending the night in Athens.
Welcome to the blog
Good morning and welcome back to the Europe blog.
Today we will be delving into the latest farmers’ protests.
And we will be keeping you updated on the latest in the campaign for the European parliament’s elections, due in early June, as the European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, will hold a press conference together with the centre-right European People’s party chief, Manfred Weber.
