Seeds of Discord or Lanes of Solidarity? : Understanding farmers’ protests in Central and Eastern Europe within the context of increasing Ukrainian grain flows

Abstract

The 2023-2025 farmers’ protests in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE), which were sparked by the influx of Ukrainian grain following the re-routing of Ukrainian grain shipments after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, attracted considerable political and social attention at both national and EU level. Most interpretations of these protests can be narrowed down to three somewhat competing assumptions: (i) the farmers’ protests were economically unfounded, as Ukrainian agricultural exports did not damage the CEE markets; (ii) the farmers’ protests were aligned with, or orchestrated by, a specific political force; (iii) these protests jeopardised the EU’s solidarity and support for Ukraine. This article analyses farmers’ protests in Poland, Romania and Hungary in light of the aforementioned assumptions. It reveals the complex socio-economic and political problems faced by farmers in CEE. It concludes that the farmers’ protests are indicative of a systemic crisis of the dominant agri-food regime in which the influx of Ukrainian grain was a trigger rather than a root cause of the crisis.