Polish farmers’ protests have been ongoing since 2023, revolving around the demands to introduce a total embargo on imports of agricultural products from Ukraine and anti-Ukrainian slogans. However, according to data, imports from Ukraine do not have a significant impact on the decline in grain prices in Poland or on the situation of price changes in the EU. The sources of the problem are much more complex, as is usually the case with multi-faceted issues, and the domestic prices of agricultural products in Poland are influenced by the situation on world markets (Czubak, Kalinowski and Pepliński 2024). However, public opinion polls show that over 80% of Poles support the farmers’ protests and restrictions on imports from Ukraine. Unfortunately, nearly two-thirds of respondents are also in favour of blocking border crossings, and almost a quarter of respondents supported the destruction of agricultural products from Ukraine (CBOS 11/2024). This, in turn, may result in Ukraine also closing its borders to Polish products, and then the losses for the Polish agri-food industry will be much greater than those caused by imports from Ukraine.
The lack of reliable knowledge of the roots of the problem and the failure to address the myths related to the origins of these protests generate unnecessary social tensions and may turn into rhetoric and actions directed against the Ukrainian population in Poland, being the so-called ‘ticking bomb’. Particularly on social media, where simplified and biased messages usually dominate, it is easier to spread disinformation, fake news, and make a selected group a scapegoat. In the face of ongoing hostilities on the territory of Ukraine and, consequently, the long-term perspective of hosting a large number of people from Ukraine in Poland, this may turn into actions directed against this group or even become a source of inter-ethnic conflicts. The escalation of negative content and behaviour in the Polish public and online space also raises misunderstanding, fear and unnecessary stress among Ukrainian refugees in Poland.
We are living in times of high social polarisation, the rise of populist narratives and filter bubbles (Sadura, Sierakowski 2023). Therefore, it is even more crucial to take action towards strengthening society using reliable information based on knowledge. There is a need for a substantive discussion about the roots of the protests, promoting facts and debunking myths surrounding the Polish-Ukrainian agricultural conflict, which would also include the Ukrainian perspective (that is experts from Ukraine, whose voice is not heard in Poland at all). Intensified efforts should be made to raise awareness and inform the public, promote facts based on knowledge, expose fake news and debunk myths. On this basis, in cooperation with Ukrainian experts, we are going to create a series of materials promoting reliable information on the import of agricultural products fr
om Ukraine, and thus contribute to easing social tensions related to it, preventing the escalation of potential further hostility towards Ukrainians in Poland.
Within the project, in cooperation with Polish and Ukrainian experts we will:
• develop reliable information on the roots of the conflict over the import of agricultural products from Ukraine
• analyse the discourse around farmers' protests in several opinion-forming Polish and Ukrainian media
• organise a debate with the participation of Polish and Ukrainian experts, during which we will focus on promoting facts & debunking myths in order to counteract disinformation and false narratives.
The results of our activities are foreseen in autumn 2024.
The project is co-financed by the Polish-American Freedom Foundation as part of the We Support Ukraine program, implemented by the Education for Democracy Foundation.
