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PARIS (AP) — Protesting farmers vowed Monday to surround Paris with tractor barricades and slow driving, aiming to encircle France’s seats of power in their fight against the government. Ukraine war.
Less than a month has passed for new Prime Minister Gabriel Attal, as farmers have begun blocking traffic on the main highway leading to the French capital, where the Summer Olympics will be held in six months, and protests continue across France. We’re expecting another tough week. Get to work.
Last week, Atal tried unsuccessfully to quell the farmers’ movement with a series of pro-agriculture measures. Farmers said their demands to make food production more profitable, easier and fairer were not being met.
In response, they began massing on major roads in Paris on tractors starting Monday afternoon, vowing to create what they called a “siege of the capital” aimed at extracting further concessions from Attal’s government.
“Our aim is not to embarrass the French people or to ruin their lives,” Arnaud Rousseau, president of the influential FNSEA agricultural union and one of the leaders of the protests, told RTL radio. .
“Our goal is to put pressure on the government to quickly find a solution to the crisis.”
The snowballing dispute in France is another manifestation of the global food crisis exacerbated by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, a major food producer.
French farmers say war-related soaring prices for fertilizer, energy and other inputs used to grow crops and feed livestock have eroded their incomes, making farming unsustainable for some. He is complaining.
Protesters also said France’s heavily subsidized agricultural sector is overregulated, suffering from red tape and farmers suffering from food imports from countries with lower costs and fewer restrictions. They are complaining that they are receiving it.
Broadcaster BFM-TV showed a tractor blocking the Paris-bound lane of the main highway leading into the capital from the southwest. “The state wants us dead,” read a banner on one of the heavy-duty vehicles.
Other disgruntled taxi drivers also organized slow protests on Monday, further exacerbating the nationwide traffic crisis. Transport authorities reported that protests turned violent on several major highways into Paris on Monday morning.
Authorities warned other road users to be prepared for problems and to use public transport if possible.
The government announced it would deploy 15,000 police officers, mainly to the Paris region, to prevent protesters from entering the city and protect the airport and the Rungis market, a hub for fresh produce. Armored vehicles were part of the safety measures taken there.
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