Now farmer protests break out across the EU: Militants block motorways in France, Germany and Belgium with their tractors in bid to lay siege to major European cities including Paris amid bitter row over pay

Major European cities in Paris, Germany and Belgium were placed under siege by militant farmers across the continent tonight. 

Armoured cars and 5,000 extra police surrounded Paris on Monday as a ‘quasi-military’ blockade swung into action, while police in Hamburg, Germany, were called out to deal with farmers who have been protesting Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s decision to cut subsidies. 

Over in Belgium, a minister was forced to evacuate the site of a protest on a major highway in the Walloon region. 

As night fell, some 1500 tractors were in place at six major junctions entering Paris, while agriculture workers called for more protection against rising costs, and for an end to the EU’s green net zero policies.

Protesting farmers started the operation by blocking the A13 highway to the west of the capital, the A4 to the east and the A6 on which hundreds of tractors rolled towards Paris from the south.

By midafternoon they appeared to have met their objective of establishing eight chokepoints on major roads into Paris, according to Sytadin, a traffic monitoring service.

Walloon Minister for Environment, Nature, Animal Welfare and Rural renovation Celine Tellier flees from the scene of a farmers protest at the Daussoulx interchange

Farmers block a highway on January 29, 2024 in Argenteuil, north of Paris

Farmers block a highway on January 29, 2024 in Argenteuil, north of Paris

Protestors use their tractors to block traffic in central Hamburg, on January 29, 2024

Protestors use their tractors to block traffic in central Hamburg, on January 29, 2024

Dozens of tractor behind some marquees to spend the night on the A-15 motorway at Argenteuil, north of Paris

Dozens of tractor behind some marquees to spend the night on the A-15 motorway at Argenteuil, north of Paris

Farmers take part in the blockade of the M7 motorway in Pierre-Benite, near Lyon, central-eastern France

Farmers take part in the blockade of the M7 motorway in Pierre-Benite, near Lyon, central-eastern France

Another target was the Rungis International Market – nicknamed the ‘belly of Paris’ – which serves the majority of the capital’s restaurants, cafés and supermarkets.

‘This is a battle for our lives,’ said Gilles Balland, who had travelled from his farm the south west of the country, close to the Spanish border.

‘Farmers are committing suicide, and all of us are struggling to stay in business – it’s the same everywhere,’ said Mr Balland.’That’s why this siege will go on for as long as it takes.’

And Stéphane Sanchez, director of France’s FNSEA agriculture union, said ‘the siege of Paris’ had been prepared with ‘quasi-military’ precision.

There were similar sieges in other cities and towns, including Lyon, Limoges and Toulouse, where massive traffic jams built up and food deliveries were cancelled.

In turn, Agriculture Minister Marc Fesneau called for ‘zero tolerance for violence and degradation’ by the farmers.

They have already been involved in criminal acts in around France, including setting fire to foreign lorries and their produce.

Supermarkets have also been raided by groups of militant farmers, who have stolen produce from overseas and set it ablaze outside the stores.

Mr Fesneau said criminal behaviour was unacceptable, and a blockage of the city of Paris was largely useless.

People walk next to tractors on the A1 highway during a protest over price pressures, taxes and green regulation

People walk next to tractors on the A1 highway during a protest over price pressures, taxes and green regulation

A mannequin in the effigy of French President Emmanuel Macron hangs next to tractors during a road blockage of the A6 highway near Villabe, south of Paris

A mannequin in the effigy of French President Emmanuel Macron hangs next to tractors during a road blockage of the A6 highway near Villabe, south of Paris

An effigy hangs from a bridge as people gather at a blockade point on the A4 highway at Jossigny, near Paris

An effigy hangs from a bridge as people gather at a blockade point on the A4 highway at Jossigny, near Paris

Interior Minster Gérald Darmanin confirmed that a security operation was designed 'to prevent any blockage of Rungis and the airport'

Interior Minster Gérald Darmanin confirmed that a security operation was designed ‘to prevent any blockage of Rungis and the airport’

‘It is an act which, in the end, mainly penalises Parisians,’ he said. ‘I’m not sure that blocking the whole of the Ile de France [greater Paris] will serve the interests of the farmers.’

Interior Minster Gérald Darmanin confirmed that a security operation was designed ‘to prevent any blockage of Rungis and the airport.’

‘We’re not going to allow government buildings or tax offices or supermarkets to be damaged or lorries transporting foreign produce to be stopped,’ he said.

Darmanin said the protests would also not be allowed to affect Paris’s Charles de Gaulle and Orly airports, or the Rungis international wholesale food market south of the city.

The nationwide farming demonstrations have already left two dead – a car rammed into a roadblock last Tuesday, killing a woman and her teenage daughter and seriously injuring her husband.

President Emmanuel Macron has ordered Gabriel Attal, the country’s new prime minister, to focus on quelling a potential ‘peasants’ revolt’ (A ‘jacquerie’ in French)

Farmers protests across Europe are growing as they demand better conditions to grow produce and maintain a proper income

Farmers protests across Europe are growing as they demand better conditions to grow produce and maintain a proper income

Some of the farmers are already calling themselves the Gilets Verts, for green vests

Some of the farmers are already calling themselves the Gilets Verts, for green vests

He fears another Yellow Vests, or Gilets Jaunes, style uprising that saw hugely violent riots against fuel tax hikes around the country from 2018 to 2020.

Some of the farmers are already calling themselves the Gilets Verts, for green vests.

Farmer leaders said the government’s responses so far were insufficient.

‘The prime minister has given us nibbles, and now we’d like him to work a bit harder and give us more,’ said Arnaud Lepoil, a member of the leading farmers’ union FNSEA.

Arnaud Rousseau, the FNSEA’s leader, and Young Farmers union boss Arnaud Gaillot were to meet with Attal later Monday, sources told AFP.

‘Our goal is not to annoy French people or make their lives difficult but to put pressure on the government,’ Rousseau told the RTL broadcaster.

Other groups have jumped on the protesting bandwagon. Earlier, around 30 activists from environmental group Greenpeace launched smoke grenades on Paris’s Place de la Concorde near the Champs-Elysees.

Farmer leaders said the government's responses so far were insufficient

Farmer leaders said the government’s responses so far were insufficient

A grain farmer looks on as French farmers block a highway with their tractors during a protest over price pressures, taxes and green regulation

A grain farmer looks on as French farmers block a highway with their tractors during a protest over price pressures, taxes and green regulation

A farmer stands at a barbecue as he blocks a highway, Monday, Jan. 29, 2024 in Argenteuil, north of Paris

A farmer stands at a barbecue as he blocks a highway, Monday, Jan. 29, 2024 in Argenteuil, north of Paris

They also unfurled a banner in support of the farmers before being escorted away by police.

Taxi drivers staged their own protest movement on Monday against what they say is insufficient remuneration for the transport of patients by the French health services.

Their go-slows added to the disruption on motorways.

Similar farming disputes have been taking place in other EU countries, with tractors on the move in countries including Germany, Italy and Spain.

In neighbouring Belgium, farmers have stepped up their own campaign, and in recent weeks farmers’ protests have also grown in Poland, Romania and the Netherlands. 

The wave of protests came as British group Get Fair About Farming also said UK agriculture is ‘on its knees’.

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