Hundreds protest in Warsaw over EU’s free-trade deals with Canada, US
, 15.10.2016
Hundreds of people took to the streets in Warsaw on Saturday to protest against the European Union’s planned free-trade agreements with Canada and the United States.
The protesters argued that the agreements, respectively known as CETA and TTIP, would harm Polish farmers and lead to an influx of genetically modified foods from North America. They urged the Polish authorities not to ratify the deals.
The protest was held by a nongovernmental organisation called Akcja-Demokracja. It was supported by several trade unions and political parties, among them the Together party, the Kukiz'15 group, and the Democratic Left Alliance (SLD).
"We are gathered here to say a firm 'no' to the CETA and TTIP agreements," said Akcja-Demokracja leader Maria Swietlik while opening the demonstration outside the Ministry of Agriculture in downtown Warsaw.
The protesters, who later also rallied in front of the Prime Minister’s Office, cheered "Hop, hop, hop - CETA stop" and waved Polish national flags as well as those of the country’s Solidarity trade union and other organisations.
The demonstrators included politicians such as Pawel Kukiz and Adrian Zandberg, leader of the Together party, who said that the protest was "an expression of disagreement" to the role of "neo-colonial arbitration tribunals" and an excessive role for multinational corporations.
The protesters said they opposed attempts to limit their sovereignty and restrict their democratic rights "under the guise of a trade agreement," as Zandberg put it. (PAP)
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