Because farmers’ protests in Poland also scare Germany
In Poland, farmers have not buried the hatchet against the government and the European Union. The blockade of the A12 motorway also scares neighboring towns.
Poland's first countermeasure to the farmers ' announcement of a month-long blockade of the border with Ukraine was to classify the customs crossing on the A12 highway as "critical infrastructure." The goal is to ensure that military aid, equipment, ammunition and other supplies from allied countries arrive in Ukraine without delay. But there is still debate as to whether such a measure could also make it possible to ban protests altogether.
IN POLAND FARMERS ARE STILL PROTESTING
Polish farmers have by no means buried the hatchet with their own government and with the European Union, but to the demands that have brought the rage of tractors to urban streets and squares throughout Europe they add a specific one with respect to what they call invasion of Ukrainian grains. Food destined for the rest of the world which, blocked along the traditional Black Sea route, must transit through the roads of Central Europe and primarily Poland. Local farmers, however, maintain that the cheaper Ukrainian cereals do not transit at all, but largely remain in Poland, putting Polish production out of the market. Trade associations complain of billions of euros in damages.
The protests at the borders have lasted for almost a year, they began well before the larger ones that mobilized all European farmers. So far there have been small skirmishes, attempts to block Ukrainian trucks, actions that have created embarrassment for the political alliance between the two countries, but nothing more. Now, however, there is a leap in quality and farmers have announced a four-week blockade of the A12 motorway, the main east-west road artery along the central European axis. According to what was reported by the Polish media, from Sunday 25 February a number ranging between 500 and 700 agricultural vehicles – tractors, ploughs, forestry machines – will be placed on the Polish side of the A12 at the customs crossing with Ukraine, blocking the entire effectively circulating for the entire month of March and allowing passage only to emergency vehicles: firefighters, ambulances, police cars.
THE ALARM IN THE NEIGHBOR COUNTRIES
The alarm was raised in neighboring countries, starting with Germany, where there are fears of a cascade collapse of traffic on its motorway network (the A12 continues westwards up to the border of Frankfurt on the Oder and then up to Berlin) and difficulties in the supply of goods to shops and supermarkets, starting with food.
A spokesperson for the Brandenburg East Police Directorate said regarding the expected traffic disruption: “We assume that this will be the case for several days. A tense traffic situation is expected. Road users must be prepared for traffic jams and diversions." A preventive plan is being studied to block truck traffic further upstream and force diversions onto alternative arteries, even if the roads parallel to the A12 do not allow heavy vehicles to move quickly, they are often two-lane provincial roads, full of curves , which pass through small urban centers.
Guido Noack, head of the Chamber of Industry and Commerce of Brandenburg, the East German Land that borders Poland, fears that the columns of trucks slowed down or blocked by a harsher protest could extend to the outskirts of Berlin and predicts long traffic jams along the A12 motorway, especially in Frankfurt an der Oder, but also in smaller cities. “We count 17 thousand trucks that pass the border crossing into Poland every day and naturally the majority will not take alternative routes, extending the journey by hours, but will try in some way to get around the inevitable slowdowns on the A12 by crossing the border or through the city bridge connecting Frankfurt an der Oder to Slubice or the one on the Küstrin-Kietz state road closed,” says Noack.
But if the motorway is blocked on the Polish side for weeks Noack also foresees repercussions for the German economy and companies: "The damage could be so catastrophic as to cause bankruptcies", he tells the regional TV Rbb. The concerns are due to the fact that some companies in Berlin and Brandenburg depend on daily deliveries: “If it is very difficult to supply them for weeks on end, they will quickly suffer large drops in production and this could create existential difficulties.”
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/economia/polonia-protesta-agricoltori-blocco-autostrada/ on Sat, 24 Feb 2024 08:42:09 +0000.