Farmers’ Protests in Central and Eastern Europe: Unpacking the Impact of Ukrainian Grain Flows

A new report, “Seeds of Discord or Lanes of Solidarity? Understanding Farmers' Protests in Central and Eastern Europe in the Context of Increasing Ukrainian Grain Flows”, has been published by Transnational Institute. Ruralis’s senior researcher, Natalia Mamonova, contributed to this research, together with her colleagues from Poland, Romania, and Hungary.

The 2023 to 2025 farmers’ protests across Central and Eastern Europe, sparked by the rerouting of Ukrainian grain after Russia’s invasion, drew significant attention both nationally and in the EU. Public debate largely revolved around three competing assumptions:

1. That the protests lacked economic justification;
2. That they were politically driven or manipulated, or
3. That they undermined EU solidarity with Ukraine.

The report showed that farmers’ grievances in these countries stem from deeper socio-economic and political challenges. The arrival of Ukrainian grain in Central and Eastern Europe acted as a catalyst for farmers’ discontent, exposing a broader systemic crisis within the prevailing agri-food regime that needs to be addressed.

Please find the report here: https://www.tni.org/en/publication/seeds-of-discord-or-lanes-of-solidarity.

There are also video interviews with the research team on Instagram and TikTok