Agricultural Europe is making itself heard.
Switzerland, Romania, Germany… If farmers have lifted most of their blockades in France, others in Europe continue to mobilize.
In Italy, demonstrations continued on Saturday, with some 150 tractors present in Orte, an hour from Rome, with demonstrators announcing their imminent arrival in the capital.
Marching in convoy near a major highway, the angry farmers demanded improvements in their working conditions and their income.
The agricultural protest extends to many regions in Italy and goes forward in Europe.
I protest annunciano: “Porteremo i nostri trattori a Roma” pic.twitter.com/RdCDdR58Yu
— Tg2 (@tg2rai) February 3, 2024
Impromptu demonstrations have taken place in recent weeks across the country, from Sicily to the north of the country.
Convoys of tractors blocking roads are now regularly reported, although the scale of the movement has not reached the level of farmers' protests in France or Germany.
Mobilization ends in Romania
Among the first in Europe to shout their "fed up" by blocking roads, Romanian farmers and road hauliers began to leave camp on Saturday, after the announcement of an agreement with the government.
Also read: Germany, Romania, Netherlands… Why are farmers demonstrating elsewhere in Europe?
The protesters are “satisfied” to have obtained a place at the negotiating table, one of their representatives said.
It was a “condition” to end the movement, he explained, northeast of the capital Bucharest, which farmers and truckers were gradually leaving to return to their regions.
For more than three weeks, they had been mobilized for punchy actions and snail operations on the outskirts of large Romanian cities.
Soon, the government, farmers and truck drivers will meet to find the best solutions to the problems encountered, according to a government press release.
First gathering in Switzerland
In Switzerland, a procession of around thirty tractors paraded through the streets of Geneva on Saturday to express the “revolt” and the demands of Swiss farmers, the first gathering of its kind in the country since the start of the mobilization of farmers in Europe.
Also read: “Livestock is once again sacrificed”: why the EU – Mercosur agreement crystallizes passions
This mobilization in Switzerland – which is not part of the European Union – was organized by the peasant organization Uniterre, after another agricultural union, the Swiss Peasants' Union, launched a petition this week with several demands, action considered by some to be insufficient.
Access to Frankfurt airport disrupted in Germany
Several hundred farmers in tractors, opposed to a reform of taxation on diesel, disrupted access to Frankfurt airport, the most important in Germany, on Saturday.
Around midday, police estimated that 400 tractors were taking part in the demonstration, while the Hessian state farmers' association announced up to a thousand agricultural vehicles.
Police reported early in the afternoon that “the demonstration at the airport has been officially ended by the organizers.
All temporary closures have therefore been lifted.”
More than 1,000 tractors have been blocking Germany's largest airport in Frankfurt since this morning.
#AgriculteursEnAngeres #agricultures #FarmersProtest pic.twitter.com/PN5JUx1Vma
— Anonymous Citizen (@AnonymousCitoyen) February 3, 2024
The aim was to oppose the proposed reduction of diesel subsidies and to draw attention to farmers' concerns about their competitiveness.
It was planned to demonstrate around the airport while leaving the access routes to the terminals free, so as not to prevent passengers from taking their flights, according to a spokesperson.
Renowned for the quality of its social dialogue, Germany has seen an increase in social conflicts in recent months, in a context of deterioration in purchasing power following inflation.
In addition to the massive mobilization of farmers, there are other social movements which are weakening the government coalition of Social Democratic Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who is struggling with record unpopularity.