EUROPEAN FARMERS REVOLT: Tractors Break Through Barriers in Brussels – Agricultural Workers Surround EU Headquarters, Spray Liquid Manure at Police in Major Show of Force (VIDEOS)
With each passing day, the great European Farmers Revolt gets bigger, louder, and… well, more foul smelling.
Hundreds of tractors and thousands of farmers have completely surrounded the meeting of EU agriculture ministers.
Bloomberg reported:
“It’s the second major protest in Brussels in recent weeks as farmers complain about bureaucratic hurdles, trade deals, climate-related rules and efforts to help Ukraine sell its grain.”
[…] Security was tight around the EU offices, with police clad in riot gear. Tractors rushed police barricades in several places, breaking through the razor wire in at least one location, according to videos posted on social media. The area around the building where EU agriculture ministers are meeting on Monday was littered with hay, barley and burning tires.
The tractors carried various slogans, including ‘I feed you but I die’, ‘1Europe wants us to die’ and ‘Our death is your hunger’. Some tractors also blocked a key intersection providing access to the main Brussels airport.”
Associated Press reported:
“Farmers clashed with police in Belgium on Monday, spraying officers with liquid manure and throwing eggs and flares at them in a fresh show of force as the European Union’s agriculture ministers met in search of ways to address the protesters’ concerns.
[…] The protests are the latest in a series of rallies and demonstrations by farmers across Europe.
[…] On the other side of the barriers in Brussels, the ministers were keen to show that they were listening, and a group of farmers’ representatives were allowed in for talks.”
The farmers’ grievances include the burden of respecting the failed, crippling environmental policies.
“‘We understand that this situation is difficult’, said David Clarinval, Belgium’s agriculture minister. ‘The 27 member states are firm in saying that things cannot remain as they are., […] It’s necessary to take rapid measures as well as measures in the longer term at the European level’.”