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BBC HomepageSkip to contentAccessibility HelpYour accountNotificationsHomeNewsSportWeatheriPlayerSoundsBitesizeMore menuMore menuSearch BBCHomeNewsSportWeatheriPlayerSoundsBitesizeCBBCCBeebiesFoodClose menuBBC NewsMenuHomeIsrael-Gaza warCost of LivingWar in UkraineClimateUKWorldBusinessPoliticsCultureMoreTechScienceHealthFamily & EducationIn PicturesNewsbeatBBC VerifyDisabilityWorldAfricaAsiaAustraliaEuropeLatin AmericaMiddle EastUS & CanadaRussian network that ‘paid European politicians’ busted, authorities claimPublished35 minutes agoShareclose panelShare pageCopy linkAbout sharingRelated TopicsWar in UkraineImage source, Getty ImagesImage caption, Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo said members of the European Parliament had been paid by the networkBy Ido VockBBC NewsA Russian-backed “propaganda” network has been broken up for spreading anti-Ukraine stories and paying unnamed European politicians, according to authorities in several countries.Investigators claimed it used the popular Voice of Europe website as a vehicle to pay politicians.The Czech Republic and Poland said the network aimed to influence European elections. Voice of Europe did not respond to the BBC’s request for comment.Czech media, citing the countries intelligence agency BIS, reported that politicians from Germany, France, Poland, Belgium, the Netherlands and Hungary were paid by Voice of Europe in order to influence upcoming elections for the European Parliament. The German newspaper, Der Spiegel, said the money was either handed over in cash in covert meetings in Prague or through cryptocurrency exchanges.Pro-Russian Ukrainian oligarch Viktor Medvedchuk is alleged by the Czech Republic to be behind the network. Mr Medvedchuk was arrested in Ukraine soon after the Russian invasion, but later transferred to Russia with about 50 prisoners of war in exchange for 215 Ukrainians. Czech authorities also named Artyom Marchevsky, alleging he managed the day-to-day business of the website. Both men were sanctioned by Czech authorities. Poland’s intelligence agency said it had conducted searches in the Warsaw and Tychy regions and seized €48,500 (£41,500) and $36,000 (£28,500). “Money from Moscow has been used to pay some political actors who spread Russian propaganda,” BIS said in a statement. It added that the sums amounted to “millions” of Czech crowns (tens of thousands of pounds). The alleged propaganda network “aimed to carry out activities against the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine,” BIS said.BIS did not name the politicians allegedly involved. However, Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo alleged they included members of the European Parliament.”It came for example to light that Russia has approached MEPs, but also paid [them], to promote Russian propaganda here,” Mr De Croo told Belgian MPs.The Voice of Europe website was offline on Thursday. An archived version of its homepage showed several articles highlighting internal divisions within European countries and expressing scepticism about support for Ukraine. These included: “Protest in Prague: people’s voice against corruption, military support for Ukraine, and government”, and “Ukraine’s army faces a mounting troop shortage amid ongoing challenges”. Voice of Europe had more than 180,000 followers on Twitter/X. The publication did not immediately reply to a request for comment.Related TopicsEuropeWar in UkraineRussiaDisinformationCzech RepublicUkraineBelgiumMore on this storyKate rumours linked to Russian disinformationPublished2 days agoHow Russia pushed false claims about Moscow attackPublished2 days agoTop StoriesSecret papers show Post Office knew case was falsePublished4 hours agoFTX’s Sam Bankman-Fried sentenced to 25 yearsPublished1 hour agoBus plunges off South Africa bridge, killing 45Published41 minutes agoFeaturesHow do I renew my UK passport and what is the 10-year rule?I’m not ashamed of who I am any more, says LionessWhat we know about the accusations against DiddyWhat happens now Baltimore port is closed?Father of two among Baltimore bridge victimsVice, Vice, Baby: Who’ll be Trump’s running mate?AttributionSoundsWhat are assisted dying, assisted suicide and euthanasia?Tackling deepfakes ‘has turned into an arms race’‘We crowdfunded to help pay our son’s care costs’Elsewhere on the BBCThis week’s ‘must watch’ and ‘don’t bother’ showsYour favourite couch critics guide you through the latest programmes on the boxAttributionSoundsA joyous celebration of love, community and equalityTom Allen marks the tenth anniversary of same-sex marriage being legalised in England and WalesAttributioniPlayer’He’s confused popularity with respect’Another chance to listen to Ricky Gervais on Desert Island Discs in 2007AttributionSoundsBruce Lee as you’ve never seen him beforeTen defining pictures throw a unique lens onto an extraordinary lifeAttributioniPlayerMost Read1Bus plunges off South Africa bridge, killing 452Man arrested after death of Gogglebox star3Dentist chair selfie sends drug trafficker to jail4Easter getaways hit by travel disruption5Secret papers show Post Office knew case was false6Beyoncé’s country album: The verdict7Arrest after 50 dead animals left outside shop8Leicester sack Kirk after relationship allegationAttributionSport9Stephen Bear ordered to pay £27k over sex tape10FTX’s Sam Bankman-Fried sentenced to 25 years

[ad_1] Czech media, citing the countries intelligence agency BIS, reported that politicians from Germany, France, Poland, Belgium, the Netherlands and Hungary were paid by Voice of Europe in order to…

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13yearold
17yearold
March 4, 2024
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BBC HomepageSkip to contentAccessibility HelpYour accountLiveNotificationsHomeNewsSportWeatheriPlayerSoundsBitesizeMore menuMore menuSearch BBCHomeNewsSportWeatheriPlayerSoundsBitesizeCBBCCBeebiesFoodClose menuBBC NewsMenuHomeIsrael-Gaza warCost of LivingWar in UkraineClimateUKWorldBusinessPoliticsCultureMoreTechScienceHealthFamily & EducationIn PicturesNewsbeatBBC VerifyDisabilityCultureThe Ukrainian teenagers who returned to a war zone for their school promPublished9 minutes agoShareclose panelShare pageCopy linkAbout sharingRelated TopicsWar in UkraineImage source, POLLY BRADENImage caption, Sofiia (second left), Aliesia (third left) and Yuliia (front) with their friends at Lyceum No 2 school in Mykolaiv before the warBy Katie RazzallCulture and media editorSofiia, Yuliia and Aliesia, three school friends from Mykolaiv in Ukraine, were 16 years old when war broke out. They were regular teenagers looking forward to sleepovers and trips to the beach near their home city.But after 24 February 2022, the girls and their families scattered across Europe.For two years, they have connected almost entirely online, using Telegram and Snapchat. “Many of us feel overwhelmed by the loss of friends and the inability to meet them,” Yuliia says.Incredibly, though, they did see each other again in person last summer, in their bombed-out hometown for a school prom.Now, their stories, and those of other Ukrainian women, are being told in a photography exhibition in London.Image source, POLLY BRADENImage caption, Yuliia, Sofia and Aliesia talking over Zoom from Warsaw, Mykolaiv and Gipf-Oberfrick, SwitzerlandWhen they fled Ukraine, the teenagers hoped it would be temporary, as Yuliia tells me they thought “it would take just a few months and we would all go back to Ukraine and back to our lives”.She originally moved with her mother and grandparents to Bulgaria, where a friend lent them a holiday flat. They later moved to Poland.Aliesia’s journey was more intense. She spent weeks travelling by bus and train, staying in tents and hostels, moving from Romania to Switzerland, then France and Spain, before arriving in Krakow, Poland, in May 2022.The whole experience “was not as physically stressful as it was emotionally”, Aliesia says.With her mother, 13-year-old brother, 17-year-old cousin and aunt, they moved into a one-room dormitory. Image source, POLLY BRADENImage caption, Aliesia (second left) with her mum, brother, cousin and aunt, sharing a room in KrakowThe children did online schooling on their bunks, with teachers who had remained in Mykolaiv. Sofiia left Ukraine for Katowice in Poland first. The journey took several days. “There wasn’t a place to stay for the night, my mum wasn’t sleeping for three days, there was no food at the gas stations.”Seven of them, including her mother and her cousin, lived in one bedroom.”It was really difficult.”Image source, POLLY BRADENImage caption, Left-right: Sofiia with her new friends in Katowice in April 2022Sofiia loves dancing and music. She would practise on the outdoor public piano on a street in Katowice. “I didn’t have one at home. I’m really very extroverted, so it was great.”The family have since moved to Switzerland, where she is studying 10 subjects at a prestigious school.Her father died of Covid during the pandemic. Aliesia and Yuliia had to leave their dads behind in Ukraine because men over the age of 18 are banned from emigrating.Aliesia and her father were reunited when the family moved back to Ukraine at the end of 2022. Six months into the war, her mother and aunt found that the hotel cleaning jobs they had in Poland didn’t pay enough to cover rent and other bills.Teenage dreamsPhotographer Polly Braden has tracked the families’ experiences over two years and is about to tell their stories in an exhibition, Leaving Ukraine, at the Foundling Museum in London. After watching reports from inside Ukraine about the men going to war and what they faced, “it felt really important to see what the women were doing and what was happening outside Ukraine”, she says.So she followed the young people as they have built new lives to find out, “what would that be like for them?”They have had to grow up fast.Image source, POLLY BRADENImage caption, Sofiia putting on make-up after school in Katowice in April 2022Sofiia says “very quickly we stopped being teenagers and had to start our life as adults”.Aliesia tells me the “teenage dream”, the one you see “in American movies”, has been taken from them. “I have sometimes had pretty bad mental breakdowns… It was not fair that I can’t enjoy life the same way as people my age from other countries do.”Yuliia says it has “felt very isolating, especially as everyone else in the world is still living their lives like nothing happened”.Image source, POLLY BRADENImage caption, Yuliia at Poland’s Independence Day in Warsaw in November 2023But none of the girls come across as self-pitying. As Sofiia puts it: “It’s not only difficult for us.”Aliesia adds: “We have to sometimes just accept some things we cannot change.”With school friends spread far and wide, last year they began to talk about wanting to have a school prom when their Ukrainian schooling ended.”For such a long while, our friend group was separated, our whole class was separated,” Yuliia says. “So seeing everyone, almost everyone, was really important to all of us.”‘We all felt beautiful’Sofiia began planning her outfit. “If you want to get a prom dress in Switzerland or Italy, it’s very expensive.” She and her mum decided “it would be cheaper to go to Ukraine”. So after school one Friday, Sofiia took a 20-hour bus trip to Lviv, in western Ukraine. She found a gold dress that “was really perfect”, bought it, and took the long journey back to Switzerland.The prom couldn’t be held at their school, which had been bombed.Instead, they hired a local hall. Bombs fell on Mykolaiv a couple of days before the reunion, which made the decision to return difficult because they were “a bit scared”, Sofiia says.Image source, ReutersImage caption, The aftermath of a Russian missile strike in Mykolaiv in July 2023But about 20 teenagers went back for the prom, from new homes as far away as the UK, Austria, Poland, Germany, Belgium and Switzerland. They came to dance, party and try to be normal teenagers for just one night.”It was actually much more special than just being a normal teenager, because a prom is quite a special day in anyone’s life,” Yuliia says. “We all felt beautiful and it was kind of magical.”She spent two days getting to Mykolaiv from Poland. “I was very excited.”She also got to see her father for the first time since she had left Ukraine.Sofiia’s mother drove for three days to get them back home, sleeping by the roadside when she felt tired. Everyone understood why it meant so much.Image source, Abramov SergeyImage caption, Left-right: Sofiia, Aliesia, their teacher Svetlana, Iryna and Yuliia at their prom in Mykolaiv in July 2023″The war wasn’t planned and so our lives stopped in one moment,” Sofiia says. “I think it was really very important to have the ending of our school lives, of our teenage lives.”It was an emotional evening, according to Aliesia. “Especially by the end, when we had to say goodbye to each other and realise that we won’t see each other for a long time again.”But for one night, they drank punch (“mildly alcoholic” and “so tasty”, according to Yuliia), danced and sang to Maneskin (Alesia’s “favourite band”), listened to speeches, and as the sun rose in the early hours, went out for a walk.”In the morning, we all felt sad,” Sofiia says, “because it was totally the end of school life.”Polly Braden’s exhibition Leaving Ukraine is at the Foundling Museum in London from 15 March.Related TopicsWar in UkrainePhotographyUkraineTop StoriesUS urges more aid for starving people in GazaPublished1 hour agoI will only cut taxes in responsible way – HuntPublished12 hours agoPolice to return Mia Janin’s lost phone to familyPublished8 hours agoFeaturesDid the last Budget deliver what was promised?Nadiya Hussain: A letter to my teenage daughterBrit Awards 2024: The real winners and losers’I embrace my alopecia, but I’d love my old hair back’ Video’I embrace my alopecia, but I’d love my old hair back’Kate, the King and three other big challenges for royalsJeremy on the Hunt for Tax Cuts. 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[ad_1] Three friends who were separated by the war talk about going back home for a special school reunion.

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February 9, 2024
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BBC HomepageSkip to contentAccessibility HelpYour accountLiveNotificationsHomeNewsSportWeatheriPlayerSoundsBitesizeMore menuMore menuSearch BBCHomeNewsSportWeatheriPlayerSoundsBitesizeCBBCCBeebiesFoodClose menuBBC NewsMenuHomeIsrael-Gaza warCost of LivingWar in UkraineClimateUKWorldBusinessPoliticsCultureMoreTechScienceHealthFamily & EducationIn PicturesNewsbeatBBC VerifyDisabilityWorldAfricaAsiaAustraliaEuropeLatin AmericaMiddle EastUS & CanadaFrom Poland to Spain, Europe’s farmers ramp up protestsPublished54 minutes agoShareclose panelShare pageCopy linkAbout sharingImage source, REUTERS/Kacper PempelImage caption, One of the biggest demonstrations in Europe was in the western Polish city of PoznanBy Paul Kirby, Adam Easton in Warsaw & Nick Thorpe in BudapestBBC NewsEurope’s farmers have ramped up protests against EU measures and rising prices, with roads blocked in Poland, Hungary, Spain and Belgium.In western Poland some 1,400 tractors took part in a protest in Poznan and roads were blocked across the country.For the fourth day in a row, tractors cut off traffic in several Spanish regions, hoping to enter cities including Toledo and Zaragoza.The protests have galvanised farmers across the continent.However, their grievances vary widely.Farmers in Poland and Hungary complain that the European Union is not doing enough to halt cheap imports from Ukraine undercutting local produce. They want the EU to restore a requirement on Ukrainian truckers to obtain a permit to work across the 27 member states.In Poland, lines of tractors, many flying the Polish flag, appeared on roads in 256 places, blocking traffic and forcing police to arrange diversions. One of the blockades halted traffic at the Medyka border crossing west of the Ukrainian city of Lviv.Protesters in Poznan lit flares and firecrackers and a barrel of waste was poured on to the street. Organisers said some 6,000 farmers had converged on the city.Many of the farmers bore banners saying no to the EU’s Green Deal, aimed at bringing down greenhouse gas emissions.The atmosphere was more febrile in the city of Bydgoszcz where a pile of tyres and straw were set alight, as well as an EU flag. A group of protestors tried to force their way into a local authority building but the police used pepper spray to stop them.The new agriculture minister, Czeslaw Siekierski, met protesting farmers in Przyborowice, northwest of Warsaw: “Farmers are protesting because they are in a difficult situation. My duty, as agriculture minister, is to be here today with the farmers to talk to them”.Image source, ERIC LALMAND/BELGA MAP/AFPImage caption, Belgian farmers targeted an EU meeting of ministers in GenkEarlier this week the European Commission recommended that net emissions should be slashed by 90% by 2040 compared with 2015 levels, but scrapped its Green Deal plan to halve pesticide use across the EU. Farmers have complained that cutting pesticides will harm their crops and jeopardise food production.Why Europe’s farmers are taking their anger to the streetsEU scraps plans to halve pesticide useHundreds of Hungarian farmers converged in their tractors on the main border-crossing with Ukraine at Zahony, on Friday, joining the Europe-wide protests for the first time.Organisers said they were protesting against cheap Ukrainian imports which were undermining Hungarian markets, and also in solidarity with farmers elsewhere in Europe. “According to my calculations, the average loss this year to a farmer for the wheat we planted last September will be about €300 per hectare,” Hungarian agriculture expert Csaba Juhasz told the BBC. “That’s taking any subsidies or support we receive into account.”He says medium-sized farms of 100-400 hectares have been worst hit.Hungary’s farmers share many of the concerns of their counterparts elsewhere, such as high fertiliser prices and cheap imports of Ukrainian grain, dairy produce, eggs and meat.But they have the full support of Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who met protesting farmers at last week’s EU summit and accused Brussels of prioritising Ukrainian farmers ahead of the rest of Europe.An estimated 600 farmers headed to the Belgian city of Genk, where EU ministers were holding an industry summit.Politicians should be supporting them, dairy farmer Wim Kwanten told Flemish broadcaster VRT, but instead they were “being held hostage by climate and environment targets – we want a level playing field for all European farmers”.Image source, VILLAR LOPEZ/EPA-EFE/REX/ShutterstockImage caption, Tractors snarled up the centre of PamplonaIn Spain, farmers shut down roads for a fourth day in several areas, snarling up traffic in big cities such as Bilbao where 100 tractors headed to the centre in columns. Residents in Pamplona woke up to find dozens of tractors parked in two columns in the city centre, while a motorway in Toledo was brought to a standstill and hundreds of tractors blocked access to the heart of the historic city.Agriculture unions in the Basque country complained about EU policies and minister Luis Planas said that he respected their right to demonstrate, but urged farmers to avoid intimidation or violence.Image source, ReutersImage caption, Four tractors staged a drive-past around the Colosseum in RomeIn Greece, farmers have demanded lower electricity prices, tax-free diesel and subsidised animal feed, as well as changes to EU environment rules.Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis is expected to meet farmers’ leaders next Tuesday but the government has insisted that the roads must remain open. The prime minister’s spokesman said he was always open to dialogue, but the right of one group to protest could not be at the expense of others.Farmers in Italy were heading for the Sanremo song festival on Friday where they planned to read a statement out on stage.A parade of tractors were due to drive around Rome’s motorway ring road on Friday evening, but a large tractor rally in the central Piazza San Giovanni was cancelled so as not to annoy the public.A symbolic convoy of four tractors drove past the Colosseum shortly before the big agriculture organisations met Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, who has criticised “ideological” EU rules.Farmers are also angry about an income tax break that was scrapped as part of this year’s budget. Ms Meloni said during the meeting that instead of being scrapped it would be better targeted to help those on the lowest farming incomes, Ansa news agency reported.Agriculture Minister Francesco Lollobrigida insisted his government was on the same side as the farmers on nine out of 10 points.Related TopicsSpainItalyEuropean UnionHungaryPolandBelgiumMore on this story’We’re not playing by the same rules’: French farmers on protestsPublished7 days agoOrban picks his next EU battle – farmers’ protestsPublished1 FebruaryTop StoriesClapham attack suspect died in Thames, police believePublished1 hour agoHarry settles phone-hacking case with Mirror groupPublished1 hour agoNetanyahu orders military to plan Rafah evacuationPublished2 hours agoFeaturesWhat’s next in Prince Harry’s war against the media?Weekly quiz: Who beat Miley to win Song Of The Year?Fact-checking Treasury minister’s claim on debtFact-checking Putin’s ‘nonsense’ historyIs Joe Biden too old to run for President again? 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[ad_1] The new agriculture minister, Czeslaw Siekierski, met protesting farmers in Przyborowice, northwest of Warsaw: “Farmers are protesting because they are in a difficult situation. My duty, as agriculture minister,…

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12yearold
2022Farmers
January 27, 2024
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BBC HomepageSkip to contentAccessibility HelpYour accountLiveNotificationsHomeNewsSportWeatheriPlayerSoundsBitesizeMore menuMore menuSearch BBCHomeNewsSportWeatheriPlayerSoundsBitesizeCBBCCBeebiesFoodClose menuBBC NewsMenuHomeIsrael-Gaza warCost of LivingWar in UkraineClimateUKWorldBusinessPoliticsCultureMoreTechScienceHealthFamily & EducationIn PicturesNewsbeatBBC VerifyDisabilityWorldAfricaAsiaAustraliaEuropeLatin AmericaMiddle EastUS & CanadaWhy Europe’s farmers are taking their anger to the streetsPublished1 hour agoShareclose panelShare pageCopy linkAbout sharingImage source, REUTERS/Nacho DoceImage caption, Farmers in France blocked several motorways on Friday as they stepped up their challenge to the new prime ministerBy Laura GozziBBC NewsAcross Europe, tens of thousands of farmers have downed tools, mounted their tractors and taken to the streets.They were already struggling with the cost of living crisis and they have now come out in force to air their grievances, from the European Union’s sustainability policies to the effects of the war in Ukraine. In France, farmers have blocked large stretches of motorways, creating a crisis for new Prime Minister Gabriel Attal, who travelled to a farm in the south-west to offer a string of measures in a bid to soothe their frustration.Some of their concerns, such as burgeoning bureaucracy, have a national character; others point to wider issues, including the increasing cost of farm diesel, late payment of EU subsidies, or competition from imports.Farmers say it is a fight for survival and they won’t stop now.Earlier this week a young farmer, Alexandra Sonac, and her 12-year-old daughter were killed when a car crashed into a farmers’ roadblock south of Toulouse. Only the day before, Ms Sonac told French radio she was joining the protests to “defend her profession” and look after her daughters.Protests have also spiralled across much of Germany, although they have a primarily national character. Farmers are angry with the phasing out of tax breaks on agricultural diesel, which they say would lead them to bankruptcy.Image source, CLEMENS BILAN/EPA-EFE/REX/ShutterstockImage caption, German farmers staged a week of national strikes earlier this monthBut, across Europe, discontent is often fuelled by anger with EU policies. The agricultural sector has always viewed with suspicion measures brought in by the EU to revamp its €55bn (£47bn) Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) and make it more sustainable. More than 70% of that money is spent on direct payments to farmers as a safety net.The revamp includes an obligation to devote at least 4% of arable land to non-productive features, as well as a requirement to carry out crop rotations and reduce fertiliser use by at least 20%. Many farmers have long argued these measures will make the European agricultural sector less competitive against imports. They are also worried that inflation has dramatically reduced the value of their direct payments.”Farmers are having to do much more… with less support,” Luc Vernet of Brussels-based think tank Farm Europe told the BBC. “They don’t see how they can cope any longer.” In some countries, the protests are nothing new.Demonstrations first broke out in the Netherlands in 2019 over government demands that livestock production be halved in order to reduce nitrogen oxide emissions.And Brussels residents have long been used to farmers entering the city’s European quarter to spray buildings with milk or fill the streets with cattle in protest at EU agricultural regulations.Image source, Reuters/Yves HermanImage caption, The European Parliament was treated to another farmers’ protest this weekNow, though, the ripple effect of war in Ukraine has brought protests to almost every corner of Europe.Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 all but blocked off trade routes in the Black Sea. The EU stepped in by temporarily lifting restrictions on imports from Ukraine – allowing its agricultural produce to flood European markets. The playing field was never going to be even: an average Ukrainian organic farm is about 1,000 hectares (2,471 acres); its European equivalents measure on average only 41 hectares. Prices in neighbouring countries such as Hungary, Poland and Romania were suddenly pushed down, and local farmers were left unable to sell their crops. By spring 2023, tractors were blocking the same Polish roads that had been lined with volunteers welcoming Ukrainians refugees a year before. The EU soon imposed trade restrictions on Ukraine’s exports to its neighbours, but only for a limited period. When the ban expired, the governments in Budapest, Warsaw and Bratislava announced their own restrictions. Image source, EPAImage caption, Farmers in Romania have experienced many of the issues shared by their European counterpartsUkraine promptly filed a lawsuit; relations soured and compassion for a country defending itself from Russia’s invasion took a backseat. Now, Eastern European countries are demanding the EU definitively revises its trade liberalisation measures with Ukraine. In Romania, where farmers and hauliers have been protesting against the high price of diesel, insurance rates and EU measures, as well as competition from Ukraine, news outlet Kronika said this month that the EU letting in cheap Ukrainian goods was “like a non-swimmer trying to save a drowning person. They both drown”. In Poland, farmers kicked off a nationwide protest on 24 January against Ukrainian agricultural imports.”Ukrainian grain should go where it belongs, to the Asian or African markets, not to Europe,” said Adrian Wawrzyniak, a spokesperson for the Polish farmers’ trade union, told Polish media. Similar sentiments are being echoed in Slovakia and Hungary.Image source, JANEK SKARZYNSKI/AFPImage caption, Polish farmers this week blockaded more than 160 roads nationwideSouthern Europe has so far been spared the brunt of the protests, but things may change soon. Christiane Lambert, the president of the Committee of Professional Agricultural Organizations (COPA), Europe’s leading farmers’ union, has predicted that Italian and Spanish farmers will soon stage their own protests.They are unaffected by the war in Ukraine, but are vulnerable to climate change, as the Spanish and Portuguese governments consider emergency restrictions on water usage in some regions because of intense drought.In Sicily this week, farmers blocked roads in protest at the regional government, which they say has failed to compensate them for last summer’s prolonged, intense heatwave and drought. “We’re on our knees, the drought has halved our harvest,” farmer Giuseppe Gulli told Rai News. He also accused the EU of helping “big corporations”.With European elections around the corner in June, Eurosceptic parties are finding a voice.Jordan Bardella of France’s National Rally has been spotted among protesters; the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) has sought to champion the farmers’ cause too.But Mr Vernet batted off these concerns: “Farmers are not extremists. In fact, farmers in Europe are the first Europeans, because they’re the ones who know best how important Europe is for them.”Image source, MIGUEL MEDINA/AFPImage caption, With European elections around the corner, France’s new Prime Minister Gabriel Attal is keen to head off his first political crisisIn Germany, ministers have scrambled to water down the proposals to end farmers’ tax breaks on agricultural diesel that had caused uproar. The change is now set to be phased in over time – but farmers want the subsidy cuts scrapped in full. “Everything that has been announced so far has further increased the farmers’ anger instead of calming it down,” said German Farmers’ Association President Joachim Rukwied.Poland’s Prime Minister Donald Tusk has promised to meet Ukrainian representatives in early March to come to a deal to regulate the transit and export of products. The EU appears to have already taken note. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has admitted “there is an increasing division and polarisation”, and has launched a “strategic dialogue” between agriculture groups and EU decision-makers. The language is self-reflective, but also vague. And for farmers across Europe who feel forgotten, betrayed or unable to feed their families, it is unlikely to be enough.Related TopicsFranceGermanyAgricultureRomaniaEuropean UnionPolandMore on this storyGermany’s far right seek revolution in farmers’ protestsPublished15 JanuaryDutch farmers in a rage over emissions cutsPublished29 July 2022Farmers blockade Berlin with tractors in subsidy rowPublished8 JanuaryTop StoriesLive. 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[ad_1] In Sicily this week, farmers blocked roads in protest at the regional government, which they say has failed to compensate them for last summer’s prolonged, intense heatwave and drought.…