Latvian farmers join Europe-wide protests demanding food import ban and VAT reforms

Aside from marching on Latvian streets with their tractors this Monday, the farmers are also advocating for a decrease in bureaucracy within the agricultural sector. These protests were held in pre-arranged locations. The farmers have warned that if their demands go unanswered, they will march on to the capital city of Riga, which saw no protests on Monday – reports suggest from the Delfi portal.

The city of Bauska, which sits on the border with Lithuania, saw over one hundred farmers participating in the protest – according to the LETA agency. Liene Grantina, the organiser of the local rally, expressed her joy with the turn-out numbers, saying it went beyond her wildest expectations.

We are Europe, not merely on the fringes of Moscow. The Latvian army shouldn't have to eat Russian pastries; our kids should not be eating bread from grain produced with pesticides banned 30 years ago – voiced Grantina, sharing her worries.

The Latvian Minister of Agriculture, Armands Krauze, claimed that a majority of the farmers' demands have already been satisfied. Notably, he mentions there's a proposed law in place to ban the import of grain from both Russia and Belarus – the LSM portal cites him.

The recent times have seen Europe grappling with a surge of farmers' protests. Germany, France, Romania, Greece, and Poland have all experienced mass strikes early this year. Most recently, these strikes reached Brussels, where famers demonstrated outside the European Parliament.

- We launched an international movement from Ireland to Poland - announced Sieta van Keimpema, the secretary of the Farmers Defence Force organisation, in late January.

- We're here to safeguard our agriculture. We've tried, for three years without success, to get the Belgian government to acknowledge our difficulties. Ultimately, we must rally and unite with all of Europe, to battle for a general cause: the feasibility of farming – for both ourselves and our children - said Isabel Proost, a Flemish farmer, during a February 2024 protest in Brussels.

She noted that the "elites in Brussels wish for their eradication". - EU regulations, supposedly for environmental protection, impose stringent criteria we're unable to meet. Additionally, the imports from Ukraine and other non-European countries are creating pricing stress for us. This represents an unfair competition - she noted.