Farmers’ protest over ‘radical environmentalists’ brings Ljubljana to a halt

Several thousand farmers and an estimated 1,500 tractors from around the country gathered for their second rally in a month to protest against environmental and other restrictions on farming, effectively bringing Slovenia’s capital to a halt on Tuesday.

The farmers claim the situation has become unbearable due to environmental restrictions, tax burdens, and unreasonable legislation “written by radical environmentalists far away from farms”.

“We’ve had enough,” Anton Medved, head of the Trade Union of Slovenian Farmers, said as tractors, including a harvester, drove past, blowing their horns. “We demand the government create the conditions that would allow farmers to survive on Slovenian land.”

The rally is a follow-up to the 24 March protest, after which a task force was formed with the government to conduct negotiations. The farmers walked away from the talks after only two weeks, unhappy with a lack of progress.

The final straw which they said prompted them to stage a new protest was a legislative proposal filed by the ruling coalition that would allow animal rights activists to act as authorised animal protection advisers and inspect farms.

The farmers’ main demands include adjusting new environmental rules, reducing Natura 2000-protected areas, no new taxes, clear and simple rules, and adjusting direct payments to inflation.

They want to see a reduction in the population of carnivores and prime agricultural land being protected by law. They want livestock farming to be considered the basis for sustainable farming and urge scrapping the proposed EU regulation on the sustainable use of plant protection products at a national level.

“Since our voice is not being heard … and the public perceives farming organisations as agreeing with many of the restrictive legislative measures, there is no other way than for us to speak up in a loud and clear manner,” said Medved.

Agriculture Minister Irena Šinko said the farmers had the right to protest, but she feels it is possible to agree in talks that the government would like to have after the May Day holidays.

The solutions she mentioned include the possibility of voluntary implementation of protective regimes in Natura 2000 areas this year and higher wildlife culling quotas for the next two years.

(Ela Petrovčič | sta.si)