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Tractors rolled into Paris on Friday as farmers tried to put pressure on French President Emmanuel Macron.
Miguel Medina
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French and Polish farmers led a new surge of anger against agriculture in Europe on Friday, bringing tractors into major cities and blocking roads to demand lower regulations and taxes.
Farmers across the continent have been protesting for weeks over overly restrictive environmental regulations, competition from cheap imports from outside the European Union and low incomes.
Tractors rolled into Paris as farmers sought to put pressure on French President Emmanuel Macron on the eve of the annual showpiece agricultural fair that has become a major political event.
The government’s promise of reforms in response to the protests in January has failed to appease farmers. Farmers were scheduled to discuss their grievances with Mr. Macron at an agricultural salon on Saturday, but the president canceled the scheduled debate.
“Our voices are not being heard at all, because we are really being treated as pawns,” Nicolas Bongay, head of a farmers’ union in rural Doubs, told AFP.
“It’s very, very hard for everyone. We came here to not leave…We’re here.”
Tractors line the streets of Paris on the eve of a major agricultural show
Mr Macron’s name was whistled and booed at a meeting of farmers belonging to France’s main agricultural unions on Friday evening, an AFP reporter said.
French farmers say more needs to be done, blocking roads, setting tires on fire and besieging supermarkets.
Spanish farmers also staged large-scale protests this week.
In Eastern Europe, Polish authorities on Friday ignored a delegation led by Ukraine’s prime minister seeking a resolution to tensions caused by weeks of Polish farmers’ protests at the border.
Polish farmers have vowed to block the main road connecting Poland and Germany starting Sunday.
Polish farmers have closed off a crossing point on the Ukrainian border to denounce unfair competition with cheaper crops from their war-torn neighbor.
Polish authorities say they never agreed to a border conference over the protests, and Ukraine claims the protests threaten its exports and are holding up deliveries of weapons vital to its two-year war with Russia. There is.
Farmers across the continent have expressed their anger since last month.
Sergey Gapon
“Unfortunately, no Polish government officials came,” Ukrainian Prime Minister Denis Shmigal said.
“But we will appeal to them publicly, make suggestions and continue this work.”
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk’s chief of staff told AFP that Warsaw was not sending a delegation because the talks “are meaningless at the moment.”
Jan Grabiec said the two countries were “far from” reaching an agreement to end the conflict, adding: “There is still no proposal from the Ukrainian side that could lead to an end to the deadlock.”
On Friday, Polish police announced that grain from Ukraine had leaked onto Polish railways near the border. This is the second such incident this week.
EU ministers are scheduled to meet in Brussels on Monday to discuss new proposals from the European Commission aimed at changing regulations at the heart of the complaints, including reducing the number of checks on agricultural products.
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