Part of the farmers want to draw attention to the bad situation of Czech agriculture with the blockade. The protest is organized, for example, by the chairman of the Trade Union of Agriculture and Food Workers and the Association of Free Trade Unions of the Czech Republic, Bohumír Dufek, or the former president of the Agrarian Chamber of the Czech Republic, Zdeněk Jandejsek. For example, they demand that the Czech government withdraw from the Green Deal for Europe. Large branch organizations such as the Agrarian Chamber, the Agricultural Union and the Association of Private Agriculture will not join the blockade, they are planning their own symbolic protest against EU policy for next Thursday.
The police warned this week that they will not allow vehicles that do not meet the legal requirements to enter motorways and motor vehicle roads. The organizers subsequently changed the originally announced routes using the highways and informed the municipality about them today. The announced routes allow for arrival in Prague from six directions, the approach to the metropolis is planned around 5:00 so that the equipment will meet around 6:00 in front of the Ministry of Agriculture for the planned blockade, which should last until 15:00. Between 9:00 a.m. and 10:00 a.m., some of the protesters plan to hand over a petition to the Government Office. Initially, the organizers reported four gatherings on Malostranské náměstí, from Monday to Thursday. Now, according to Hofman, they have limited the scope. “The notices for Wednesday and Thursday have been withdrawn, with the fact that even Tuesday’s events should be very limited and only on Malostranské náměstí or its surroundings,” he said. From the south, the farmers plan to come to Prague on Monday along Strakonická street, where they want to line up at 5:00 a.m., and then continue across the Jiráský bridge on the highway. They will then arrive in the direction of Říčany and Uhříněvsi via Přátelství and Kutnohorská streets, from where they will enter Černokostelecka and Vinohradská and then onto the highway.
Photo: Tomáš Svoboda, Seznam Správy
Police expect complications from early morning to early evening on Monday.
From the north, the technique will arrive in the metropolis along the D8 highway and further through Kobylisy, Holešovicky, across the Barikadník bridge to Argentinská and the highway. From the northwest, the farmers plan to come along Evropska street and continue through the Dejvický tunnel via Milada Horáková and Veletržní streets to Wilsonova and to the Ministry of Agriculture. From Hradec Králové, the route leads through Horní Počernice, Černý Most and then through Poděbradská and Českomoravská to the embankment and through the Těšnovský tunnel to the ministry. The last arrival route will be from Pardubice and will lead through Újezd nad Lesy and Běchovice to Českobrodská and Spovojní further to the center. Hofman reiterated that if the hundreds of pieces of equipment actually arrive in the city, as the organizers have announced, it will probably mean a traffic collapse in the entire city. “The metropolis is strongly asking citizens not to go to the capital on Monday at all and, if possible, to use, for example, the option of working from home. If citizens still have to travel to the capital, they should choose train transport,” said the spokesman.
