EC willing to be flexible in addressing farmers' concerns – Lithuanian president

VILNIUS - The European Commission and its President Ursula von der Leyen are willing to be flexible addressing farmers' problems, Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda says, adding that EU farmers are making different demands in different countries but they are being viewed with understanding.

"Yesterday, I spoke with EC President Ursula von der Leyen about that and, first of all, I old her about the situation in Lithuania. (...) She is currently collecting information from different EU countries as, for example, the biggest problem in France is the EU-Mercosur agreement, and in Belgium the demands are similar to those in Lithuania, which have to do with the restoration of permanent grasslands, and in Poland, they have to do with cheaper Ukrainian food products' entry into the domestic market," the president told reporters in Brussels on Thursday. 

"The problems are different, but the European Commission and its president are really understanding and flexible, and I hope we will be able to find solutions that will be good for farmers," he added.

Nauseda told the EC president on Wednesday that the issue of restoration of permanent grasslands was particularly acute in Lithuania.

The president said he would meet with Lithuanian farmers next week: "I hope we will have something to say and will listen carefully to farmers".

Last week, Lithuanian farmers staged a major protest in Vilnius to demand, among other things, the abolition of the EU's requirement that part of arable land should be restored to permanent grasslands and no longer be used for farming.