Farmers protest near Charles de Gaulle airport in the Paris region, France, January 27, 2024/Reuters
Farmers in France began moving towards Paris today (Monday), threatening to choke main roads and lay siege to the capital demanding better working conditions.
In recent days, protests by French farmers - the largest producer of agricultural products in the European Union - have intensified.
They are angry about low wages and bureaucracy and environmental policies, which they say harms their ability to compete with farmers in neighboring countries where regulations are less stringent.
They have used their tractors and trucks to block roads and disrupt traffic across France, and they plan to step up their campaign of pressure by setting up eight blockade points along the main roads leading to the capital.
In response, the government ordered the deployment of 15,000 police officers and members of the Civil Guard.
Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin told troops to behave with restraint, but he also warned farmers not to disturb strategic points.
"We do not intend to allow damage to government buildings, tax collection or grocery stores, or stopping trucks carrying foreign products. This is clearly unacceptable."
said.
Darmanin said the protests would not be allowed to disrupt operations at Charles de Gaulle and Orly airports in Paris, or the Ranjis international wholesale food market south of the city, where armored police vehicles were deployed.
He added that the forces also received instructions to prevent any penetration into Paris itself.
The government is trying to prevent the discontent among farmers from spreading ahead of the European Parliament elections in June, which are seen as a major test for President Emmanuel Macron's government.
During a visit he made to the farm yesterday, Prime Minister Gabriel Atal again hurried to address the farmers' concerns, after a series of concessions announced on Friday failed to calm the crisis.
"I want us to clarify things and see what further steps we can take," the French prime minister said of the farmers' claims that they are facing unfair competition.
Arno Russo, one of the heads of the major farmers' unions, said that he was looking forward to meeting the Prime Minister today.
"Our goal is not to upset the citizens of France or make their lives difficult, but to put pressure on the government," he told the RTL network.
Some roadblocks were removed over the weekend, but tractor drivers returned in the early hours of the day and gathered at assembly points for the start of their journey to the capital.
Yesterday, two activists threw soup on the glass protecting the Mona Lisa painting at the Louvre Museum to draw attention to the agricultural industry.
"What is more important? Art or the right to healthy and sustainable food?", they read.
"Your agricultural system is sick. Our farmers are dying at work."
In addition to the farmers' protest, the taxi drivers also protested today about the remuneration they receive for transporting patients from the French health services.
Slow travel has begun to choke major roads across the country, including the A13 highway leading to Paris.
A similar farmer protest was registered yesterday in Belgium, as well as in Germany, Poland, Romania and the Netherlands in recent weeks.
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