Kaczyński spoke to Wojciechowski on Friday afternoon and asked him to resign, people in the European Commission told POLITICO, adding that Wojciechowski was “seriously considering” doing so.
Farmers in Poland blockaded roads and major border crossings with Ukraine on Friday at the start of a month-long series of protests across the country. The farmers demand a stop to imports of agricultural products from Ukraine and a halt to implementing EU green policies — echoing demands made at protests around Europe. They’ve also asked for more money for livestock farming.
Several other Polish politicians, including Deputy Prime Minister Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz of the Polish People’s Party, also criticized Wojciechowski and called for his resignation.
“There is a man in Europe who united all European and Polish farmers against the reform he proposed. This is Janusz Wojciechowski. Resign!” Kosiniak-Kamysz said.
With only months left in his mandate, Wojciechowski has long been seen as a lame-duck commissioner after hitting the campaign trail in support of the failed bid by PiS to win a third term in a general election last fall. His repeated absences from Brussels led to criticism at the time that he was “quiet quitting.”
Wojciechowski on Thursday published an open letter on the X platform highlighting the actions he had taken to help farmers in Poland, including lobbying to curb imports of Ukrainian products and increasing funding for livestock farmers within the last reform of the Common Agricultural Policy.
This story has been updated.
