Sisak protest targets planned chicken megafarms

The news in Croatian

1. županija  (f.)
   područje u državi koje ima svoju lokalnu vlast i upravu ↩︎
2. prosvjedovati
   javno pokazivati nezadovoljstvo zbog nečega, često na ulici ↩︎
3. klaonica  (f.)
   posebna zgrada ili mjesto gdje se životinje zakolju za meso ↩︎
4. smrad  (m.)
   vrlo neugodan, jak i loš miris ↩︎
5. zagađenje  (n.)
   prljanje okoliša štetnim tvarima koje loše utječu na prirodu i zdravlje ↩︎
6. projekt  (m.)
   plan za veći posao ili izgradnju, koji opisuje što će se raditi i kako ↩︎

Translation

Text comprehension

Question 1: Why are the people in Sisak protesting against the big chicken farms and slaughterhouses?

Question 2: What do the protesters want the government to do about the planned chicken megafarms?

Vocabulary

Croatian	English
županija  (f.)	county
prosvjedovati	to protest
klaonica  (f.)	slaughterhouse
smrad  (m.)	stink
zagađenje  (n.)	pollution
projekt  (m.)	project

Read the full story

Several hundred to several thousand people, according to differing organiser estimates, gathered in the central Croatian town of Sisak to protest against plans for large-scale chicken farms and slaughterhouses, often described by activists as “megafarms” and “megaclaUGHTERS”. The event, held under the title “Protest to Save Croatia from Megafarms and Slaughterhouses”, brought together citizens from at least four Croatian counties.

The protest started at Trg Republike, the square in front of the main railway station, and moved through the main street and pedestrian zone towards Trg bana Josipa Jelačića in the city centre. Along the route, participants carried banners with slogans such as “Profit for them, stench for us”, “We won’t give up Croatia”, “We are not for sale” and “NO to megafarms, YES to life”. One frequently quoted message read: “This is not just a local problem. This is a question of Croatia’s future”.

The protest was organised by the local initiative “Siščani ne žele biti smetliščani” (roughly: “People of Sisak don’t want to be treated like rubbish”), with support from environmental NGO Zelena akcija (Green Action), animal rights group Prijatelji životinja (Animal Friends) and a network of citizens’ initiatives from the Sisak-Moslavina, Zagreb, Varaždin and Koprivnica-Križevci counties.

Activists are reacting to plans by two investors, reportedly including Ukrainian poultry companies, to develop an integrated system of industrial poultry production in Croatia. According to organisers, the projects foresee 24 large farms in 12 towns across three counties, with a combined capacity of around 270 million chickens per year. At some locations, protesters claim, individual farms would keep tens of millions of birds, which they describe as unprecedented for their communities.

Although the projects are presented as separate investments, organisers argue that their environmental impacts are cumulative. They warn of large amounts of manure, waste water and biological waste, together with what they describe as intense and persistent odours. Protesters say that the existing infrastructure for waste and water treatment is not sufficient to handle such volumes, and they claim that no satisfactory technical solutions have been shown to the public so far.

Environmental concerns are closely linked, in protesters’ view, to health and quality-of-life issues. Speakers in Sisak said they fear air, water and soil pollution, possible effects on human health, and damage to biodiversity. Some described the proposed system as an “eco-bomb” and questioned whether residents should accept what they see as a large-scale experiment in intensive livestock production near their homes.

Beyond the ecological arguments, many participants focused on the potential impact on local agriculture. Representatives from villages such as Velika Ludina, Lipovljani, Sunja and other affected areas warned that the projects could, in their view, mean the collapse of Croatia’s existing poultry sector and the loss of small family farms. Protesters pointed out that planned production would be several times larger than the country’s current annual poultry output, and they expressed concern that this could push smaller producers out of the market.

For many speakers, the issue was also about the way of life in rural Croatia. They emphasised their wish to live in harmony with nature and to continue producing what they consider to be local, home-grown food. Some residents said they feared that strong odours and worries about pollution could accelerate depopulation in already fragile regions, where the demographic balance is considered delicate.

The protest in Sisak is part of a wider campaign that started as a local initiative but has since expanded to the national level. Activists announced that they plan another demonstration in June in front of the Croatian Government in Zagreb. Their main demands are directed at state institutions, especially the central government and the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Green Transition.

In an agreed list of requests, organisers called for the immediate suspension of all environmental impact studies related to the poultry megaprojects; a review of all previous decisions declaring projects acceptable for the ecological network or exempt from assessment; and a combined (cumulative) environmental impact assessment covering all locations and both investors together. They also want a binding national-level decision that such large-scale poultry projects are not acceptable in Croatia.

The Sisak protest follows an earlier administrative step at the national level. The Ministry of Environmental Protection has already rejected the environmental impact study for one planned large chicken slaughterhouse in Sisak. Despite this, local initiatives say they will continue to campaign against all related megafarm and slaughterhouse plans in the wider region.

As public pressure grew, various levels of government and administration responded. Officials in the municipality of Velika Ludina rejected claims that a poultry processing plant would be built in their business zone. The City of Sisak reaffirmed its position that a proposed biogas plant, linked in public debate to the poultry system, does not match the current spatial plan and that the city does not intend to change that plan.

The national Minister of Agriculture, Marija Vučković, commented on aspects that fall under the environmental ministry’s responsibility. She stressed that the projects are subject to formal administrative procedures for assessing environmental impact. According to her statement, the ministry must inform the public, enable public participation in these procedures and secure access to the courts. She also underlined that, for projects under way, it is necessary to carry out a cumulative impact assessment that takes into account both planned and existing facilities at the relevant locations, in line with Croatia’s Environmental Impact Assessment Regulation.

So far, investors themselves have not been prominently quoted in the available reports, and detailed technical documentation has not been widely presented in the media. Supporters of such large agricultural investments in general often argue that they can bring new jobs, higher production and export potential, and integration into modern agro‑industrial systems. However, these possible economic benefits were not a major focus of the Sisak protest, where attention was centred on environmental protection, public health and rural livelihoods.

The situation therefore remains unresolved. On one side, citizens’ initiatives and environmental and animal‑rights groups are calling for the projects to be stopped entirely and for a stronger role for the public in planning decisions. On the other, state authorities refer to ongoing legal and administrative procedures and the need to follow formal environmental assessment rules. Further developments are expected as the government, local authorities, investors and residents continue to debate the future of poultry megafarm projects in Croatia.

Info: ‘Croatian Learner News’ is a service from ‘Let’s Learn Croatian’, a language school offering various types of online Croatian courses, including Croatian for beginners. Through this service, we share information, updates and resources to support learners at different stages of studying Croatian.