Prime Minister Donald Tusk is heading to Prague for a meeting of the heads of state of the Visegrad Group. "It was a rather effective format within the European Union. We achieved a great deal when we were all staunch supporters of strengthening the West's power and were democrats," the head of government stated on Monday at a press conference.

"I am sorry for one reason. I will talk about it tomorrow in Prague. Poles, Slovaks, Hungarians, Czechs - objectively speaking - have almost exclusively common interests. This also applies to security. It is a kind of paradox that today, ambiguous signals regarding Putin and Russia are coming from Budapest and Bratislava," Tusk stated.

"I will return from Prague, from this meeting, and I will tell you openly whether the Visegrad Group still makes sense or not. This meeting will clarify a lot," he added.

At **9:30 AM**, a press conference will be held by the chairman of the PiS parliamentary club, Mariusz Błaszczak, and MPs Waldemar Buda and Paweł Jabłoński.

At **10:00 AM**, the investigative committee for the visa scandal will interrogate the former Consul General of the Republic of Poland in Mumbai, Damian Irzyk, and subsequently, the vice-consul at the Consulate General of the Republic of Poland in Mumbai, Mateusz Reszczyk.

At **6:00 PM** in Krakow, the chairman of Poland 2050, Szymon Hołownia, will participate in an open meeting with the candidate for the mayor of Krakow, MP Rafał Komarewicz.

- I am convinced that the protesting farmers will do everything to ensure that the protest, this gathering, does not become a significant inconvenience for the residents of Warsaw. At the same time, I apologize to the residents for any disruptions, but protests have a certain form and are always associated with some significant traffic disruptions - stated Czesław Siekierski in "Sygnały dnia" on PR1.

- I am in constant dialogue with the protestors. Yesterday, I was returning from Brussels, and I also spoke with protestors in Brussels. There was a protest, mainly attended by farmers from Belgium, but there were also representatives from Spain, Italy, France, and other countries. It was a protest of international scope. Later, during the deliberations of the Council of the European Union Ministers of Agriculture, which is currently chaired by the Belgian Minister of Agriculture as Belgium holds the presidency, there was a meeting with representatives of the protesting farmers - stated Czesław Siekierski on PR1's 'Sygnały dnia'.

- In Poland, we have large grain reserves. I discussed the European Union getting involved in grain sales, or covering the costs of its transport, or even buying some grain from the market and donating it for humanitarian purposes to regions of the world in need, because this would allow us to regain those markets for the future and win the competition against cheap Russian grain - stated Czesław Siekierski on "Sygnały dnia" PR1.

- I want to say very clearly. We are all with the farmers. I would like to warmly and sincerely appeal to the residents of Warsaw not to let themselves be convinced that all the difficulties, which will likely occur in the capital, are solely because farmers don't like something and are trying to make life difficult for city dwellers. This is what the current coalition of December 13th will try to exploit, to divide Poles - stated Joachim Brudziński on TV Republika.

- Today, the test of our cooperation lies in our actions within the EU, because we don't need to assure friendship between nations. They are obvious and well-established. After all, prime ministers and presidents change, while nations are far more attached to lasting bonds than politicians, so I am confident about the friendship between our nations. However, we must today define our common interests under more difficult conditions – stated Prime Minister Donald Tusk at a V4 prime ministers' press conference in Prague.

- What forms the basis of the Visegrád Group, what we have written in our declaration and in our hearts, should today apply to our common policy towards Ukraine. As you know, there are somewhat different approaches here, but we discussed how we can act together for Ukraine as a victim of Russian aggression. After this conversation, I believe it is possible to build, at least fragmentarily, such common work for the sake of helping Ukraine, perhaps with different approaches to the matter, but I count on the fact that after our discussion, this support for Ukraine will be more unambiguous – he continued.

- It is better for Poland, I think it is better for the Czech Republic, Hungary, and Slovakia for the Visegrad Group to be as solidary as possible. Today, this is perhaps more difficult than before, but I would like us to work together to ensure that at least some matters are on our common agenda, and after today's meeting, I am a cautious optimist – stated Prime Minister Donald Tusk at a press conference of the V4 prime ministers in Prague.

- The truth is obvious, Putin is a war criminal. The sole reason for the war in Ukraine is Russian aggression against Ukraine. There is no room for neutrality or false equivalence here. Regardless of how strong a state Russia remains, the political, moral, and historical assessment of what is happening in Ukraine today must be unambiguous. In matters such as assessing who is guilty of the war, who is the aggressor, who is the victim, what is the cause of the war, this is not an area for negotiation. One can negotiate the terms of peace, one can consider methods of procedure, how to help Ukraine, who wants how much, who can do how much, but there is no room for speculation as to who is guilty and who is not guilty of this aggression - stated Donald Tusk at a press conference of the Prime Ministers of the Visegrad Group countries.

- Regarding Polish farmers, food producers, but more broadly, because it's not just about Polish farmers and food producers. It also concerns other sectors of the economy and other countries. We cannot leave them alone. At the exact same time, it was decided to introduce the so-called Green Deal, whose ecological and climate goals are indisputable, but whose certain chapters, e.g., concerning European agriculture, represent a burden too heavy to bear, especially for medium and smaller agricultural producers. At the same time, a decision was made regarding free trade with Ukraine, involving Ukrainian agricultural products, which we have no chance of competing with, if only because the standards required of European and Polish agricultural producers are very high, and there are no procedural requirements, no standards applied to Ukrainian food. We want to help Ukraine, that's indisputable, but it cannot be done through measures that are lethal to entire economic sectors – said Donald Tusk at the V4 summit in Prague.

- Poland maintains the embargo on Ukrainian grain. It is not ruled out, and we are discussing this with the Ukrainian side, that an expansion of the embargo to other products will be necessary if the EU does not find more effective ways to protect the Polish and European market – stated Donald Tusk at the V4 summit in Prague.



- Poland does not foresee sending soldiers to Ukraine - stated Donald Tusk at a press conference of the Prime Ministers of the Visegrad Group countries.

- During the talks, we essentially agreed on one thing, and that is probably the main achievement of this hour: it would be good to organize a kind of round table as soon as possible in a place like the Sejm, which offers such a possibility. Where experts, farmers, politicians, but also perhaps processors and market representatives in general, will talk to each other continuously, so that after a few months, perhaps a dozen or so months of joint work, it turns out that there is no longer a need to organize large protests once a year. Instead, everyone heard each other earlier and truly knows what the other side is trying to do to meet reality – said Szymon Hołownia at a press briefing in the Sejm.

- I have said this and I will repeat it again. The barriers in front of the Sejm disappeared for good once we, with the new majority, started working here, but they will appear whenever the real safety of people participating in protests is involved – stated Szymon Hołownia at a press briefing in the Sejm.

Nasza ostateczna odpowiedź, czy budujemy Pałac Saski – tak. Szybko. Wystarczyły 2 tyg. i zabezpieczyliśmy zabytkowe piwnice. pic.twitter.com/2wqQuwPu7q

— Bartłomiej Sienkiewicz (@BartSienkiewicz) February 27, 2024

Head of the Chancellery of the Prime Minister, Jan Grabiec, met with representatives of protesting farmers, as announced on the Chancellery of the Prime Minister's social media.

W Kancelarii Prezesa Rady Ministrów trwa spotkanie Ministra @JanGrabiec z przedstawicielami protestujących rolników. pic.twitter.com/QNun4Iphpa

— Kancelaria Premiera (@PremierRP) February 27, 2024

? PiS oszukał polską wieś! pic.twitter.com/pEe2GmPjle

— PlatformaObywatelska (@Platforma_org) February 27, 2024

- All options are being considered. Tomorrow, we will also discuss this with the Ukrainian Minister of Economy, who will be a guest at the Ministry of Development and New Technologies, hosted by Minister Hetman. I will also participate, so there is no decision yet, but we are considering various possibilities. It's not as simple as closing the borders because trade is a two-way street. Regarding general trade, we have a positive balance of 6 billion euros. In agriculture, we have a negative balance of about 650 million euros, so we need to be very cautious here – stated Czesław Siekierski on the program "Gość Wydarzeń" on Polsat News.

- [Closing the border could be detrimental to Polish producers] because we also export dairy products. We are considering all of this. We want to introduce a control system, we want to seal the border, we want the flow of goods to be subject to some control so that it does not disrupt stability – he added.

- I was surprised by the form of inspection [by PiS MPs at the Ministry of Agriculture], opening cabinets, somehow pushing aside, not asking employees. We have nothing to hide, but we have specific agreements with the Ukrainian Minister of Agriculture regarding the form of conducting talks. This is not the stage that allows me to reveal everything for the good of the talks […]. They were too serious individuals not to understand the complexity of the issue – stated Czesław Siekierski on Polsat News.

- What is clear is that most European countries see that this formula simply won't work and there will be a discussion. Therefore, we expect a great deal of flexibility here. It was a mistake, a mistake by both Commissioner Wojciechowski and the previous government. The Green Deal is as negotiated by the previous government. Now, unfortunately, it needs to be changed - stated Adam Szłapka in TVN24's "Fakty po faktach".

- The first funds should arrive in Poland in April, I'm talking about the KPO. These are primarily funds for fundamental modernization, such as the 'Clean Air' program, building thermal insulation, and similar initiatives. This will amount to almost 7 billion euros - stated Adam Szłapka on TVN24's "Fakty po faktach".

Dziś w kontekście protestu rolników mówiłem jasno o tym, że działania Unii Europejskiej mogą być postrzegane jako hipokryzja. Z jednej strony Bruksela w Zielonym Ładzie śrubuje standardy jakości żywności, a z drugiej godziła się na wpuszczanie towarów z Ukrainy, które nie…

— Rafał Trzaskowski (@trzaskowski_) February 27, 2024