were encircling Paris with tractor barricades and drive-slows on Monday, using their lumbering vehicles to block highways leading to FranceB次元官网网址檚 capital to pressure the government over the future of their industry, which has been shaken by repercussions of
The targeting of Paris B次元官网网址� B次元官网网址� and traffic-snarling protests elsewhere in France promised another difficult week for , less than a month into the job.
Protesters said AttalB次元官网网址檚 attempts last week at pro-agriculture measures that producing food should be more lucrative, easier and fairer.
Farmers responded by deploying hundreds of tractors, trailers and even rumbling harvesters to block and slow traffic in what they described as a B次元官网网址渟iegeB次元官网网址� to squeeze more concessions. Some protesters came with reserves of food and water and tents to stay at their barricades if the government doesnB次元官网网址檛 cede ground.
The barricades highlighted gulfs in economic and social opportunity between town and country in France. Protesters said they felt ignored by government ministers they accused of rarely venturing to farms and getting their shoes dirty.
The government announced a deployment of 15,000 police officers, mostly in the Paris region, to head off any effort by protesters to enter the capital. Officers and armored vehicles also were stationed at ParisB次元官网网址� hub for fresh food supplies, the Rungis market.
At Jossigny near the Disneyland theme park outside Paris, protesters blocked all six lanes of the A4 highway, parking their tractors so they formed what looked like an ear of wheat when seen from the air. Some vehicles carried placards declaring B次元官网网址淣o food without farmersB次元官网网址� and B次元官网网址淭he end of us would mean famine for you.B次元官网网址�
South of the capital, protesters used forklifts to deposit hay bales to block the A6 highway, broadcaster BFM-TVB次元官网网址檚 images showed.
B次元官网网址淥ur goal isnB次元官网网址檛 to bother or to ruin French peopleB次元官网网址檚 lives,B次元官网网址� Arnaud Rousseau, president of the influential FNSEA agricultural union, said on RTL radio. B次元官网网址淥ur goal is to put pressure on the government to rapidly find solutions out of the crisis.B次元官网网址�
The movement in France is another manifestation of worsened by RussiaB次元官网网址檚 nearly two-year full-scale war in Ukraine, a major food producer.
French farmers assert that higher prices for fertilizer, energy and other inputs for growing crops and feeding livestock have eaten into their incomes.
Protesters also argue that FranceB次元官网网址檚 massively subsidized farming sector is over-regulated and hurt by food imports from countries where agricultural producers face lower costs and fewer constraints. Rousseau used Ukrainian sugar producers as an example, saying their soaring exports to Europe since Russia invaded in February 2022 are B次元官网网址渦ntenableB次元官网网址� for European counterparts.
Taxi drivers with other grievances also organized drive-slow protests Monday. Authorities elsewhere in the country also reported disruptions and recommended that road users switch to public transport if possible.
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