Surrounded by a group of farmers, French President Emmanuel Macron on Saturday accused neoliberal leaders of environmental policies and prioritizing Ukraine over their own people.
Farmers’ unions and organizations clashed with security guards and broke through the gates of the 60th agricultural show at the Porte de Versailles trade fair in Paris on Saturday to air their grievances directly to President Emmanuel Macron. did. After some initial hesitation, the French president acquiesced and held an impromptu discussion with several farmers.
“You gave Ukraine huge amounts of money, but you gave us crumbs,” said one farmer. Said He told Macron, according to broadcaster BFMTV.
PARIS, FRANCE – FEBRUARY 24: Inside the Porte de Versailles Exhibition Center on the day of French President Emmanuel Macron’s visit to the International Agricultural Expo (International Agricultural Salon), which opened in Paris on February 24, 2024. French farmers staged a protest. France. After weeks of mobilization by sections of the agricultural industry, dozens of demonstrators entered the salon without permission on Saturday morning and attempted to meet with the head of state. (Photo courtesy of Chesnot/Getty Images)
According to the Kiel Institute, a German-based think tank, the Macron government Involved Since 2022, French taxpayers have sent about $2 billion to Ukraine. But French taxpayers are paying even more through the European Union’s war fund, with Brussels recently approving an additional $54 billion for Kiev, which is expected to take the total to more than $150 billion.
Farmers in France, and indeed across Europe, have been economically affected by the war in Ukraine far more than the taxes sent to Kiev. Last year, the European Union decided to allow agricultural imports from Ukraine to enter the region duty-free. This move is seriously damaging the competitiveness of local farmers in Europe, given that food can be produced much more cheaply in former Soviet states due to lower regulatory burdens and lower labor costs.
The European Union announced on Wednesday that it would extend duty-free access to Ukraine’s market for at least another year in a move to keep the economy afloat amid the war with Russia.It’s Brussels Said Although he insisted that some safeguards would be put in place to protect domestic agriculture, farmers’ groups said the measures were insufficient and would ultimately lead to further protests from farmers across the continent.
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— Breitbart London (@BreitbartLondon) February 21, 2024
Ukraine was not the only issue farmers raised with Macron on Saturday. Several farmers spoke about the challenges they face in transitioning to organic farming at the request of the Paris government and the European Union.
“I went organic. That’s a stupid thing I did. I sell my grain at conventional prices,” said one farmer. Said Hit le figaro, further added: “I’m not low-income, I don’t pay myself. My income is zero. I’m putting a band-aid on an open fracture.” Another farmer said, “People no longer have purchasing power. You can’t buy organic!”
They also voiced grievances such as overregulation, red tape and the overall EU green agenda that many in France associate with Macron’s government, given the party’s support for climate change policies in Brussels. stated repeatedly. Furthermore, farmers’ organizations demanded that the tractor protesters be released from police custody.
PARIS, FRANCE – FEBRUARY 24: This morning, French riot police stormed the Salon de Paris in conjunction with the visit of President Emmanuel Macron during the 60th International Agricultural Exhibition (Salon de Agriculture) in Paris.・The farmers gathered around Agriculture Hall 1 intervened. February 24, 2024, Porte Versailles fairgrounds in Paris, France. Tensions rose between farmers and French riot police. The Agricultural Salon has been slow to open to the public and Hall 1 is not yet open to the public. (Photo by Luc Auffret/Anadolu via Getty Images)
President Macron responded defiantly to the farmers: “Don’t say we didn’t do anything!”
Following weeks of tractor protests across France, including the “Paris siege,” Prime Minister Gabriel Attal, Macron’s second-in-command, announced the suspension of a planned agricultural diesel tax hike, additional financial support and It announced several concessions to farmers, including a pledge against free taxation. Trade agreement with the Mercosur region of South America.
But while the tractor protests have largely subsided for now, the anger of beleaguered farmers has not subsided. Arnaud Rousseau, head of France’s FNSEA farmers’ union, said it was “very likely” that farmers would once again take to the streets to protest on tractors. Farmers across Europe will try to keep up the pressure on governments and Brussels in the run-up to June’s European Parliament elections.
French peasant revolt: 9 out of 10 people support peasant protests against globalist government https://t.co/cINXr0IjEx
— Breitbart London (@BreitbartLondon) January 25, 2024
