European farmers mobilize: Tractors roll into Rome in massive protest

Tractors flood Rome’s streets as farmers across Europe rally against agricultural policies

A convoy of tractors converged near Rome on Saturday, escalating a series of farmers’ protests across Europe over what demonstrators describe as excessively restrictive regulations on agriculture and unfair competition. 

The protests, initially ignited in France last month, have seen widespread disruptions as farmers block motorways and congest major cities with their tractors, demanding better pay and conditions.

The Italian protesters in Orte, an hour north of Rome, are seeking dialogue with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s government, though no response has been received so far.

“Italian agriculture has woken up,” declared protester Felice Antonio Monfeli, emphasizing the historic unity of the farmers.

Another demonstrator, Domenico Chiergi, highlighted the critical nature of their situation, stating, “We cannot be slaves in our own companies.”

Greek farmers consider escalation

In Greece, around 2,000 farmers protested in the country’s second-largest city of Thessaloniki on Saturday calling for increases in aid.

Their action came a day after Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis announced further support measures.
Some farmers from the mountain villages of Thessaly threw chestnuts and apples that had spoiled because of the natural disasters that hit the region.

“We have no food, we cannot put our lives in discount,” Kostas Tzelas, president of the Rural Associations of Karditsa said. “We want to stay on our land and not become migrants.”

Mitsotakis has already extended the refund of a special consumption tax on oil and a discount on rural electricity from May to September.
It is among a package of measures whose cost Mitsotakis put at more than $1.1 billion. But Tzelas dismissed these measures as “peanuts”.

The president of a union of agricultural associations, Rizos Maroudas, told reporters a meeting was scheduled next week “to decide the escalation of blockades”.

German, Belgium, Netherlands

In Germany, hundreds of farmers on tractors disrupted access to Frankfurt airport, the country’s busiest, in opposition to a reform of diesel taxation, police said.
A Hesse farmers’ association estimated vehicle numbers at around 1,000, while police said 400 tractors took part before the protest ended in the early afternoon.

A protest on the Dutch-Belgian border that had shut down a main motorway was wound down on Saturday evening, the Belga news agency reported.
Farmer discontent has also affected non-E.U. Switzerland, where around 30 tractors paraded in Geneva on Saturday in the country’s first such protest since the movement started elsewhere in Europe.

He welcomed the transition to a more environmentally friendly agriculture but asked for more help in the face of competition from countries without the same standards.
In Spain, the three main farmers’ unions have announced more protests in the coming weeks, with a major demonstration planned for Barcelona on February 13.

In France, security forces cleared the few remaining blockades of motorways a day after the main agricultural union called for them to be lifted following government concessions. Their mobilisation had forced new French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal’s government to pause a plan to reduce pesticide and insecticide use and offer an aid package of 400 million euros.

Romanian farmers and hauliers also announced the end of their road-block protest on Saturday following an agreement with the government. The E.U. is scrambling to address concerns ahead of European Parliament elections this year. The European Commission on Thursday promised measures to defend the “legitimate interests” of E.U. farmers, notably the much criticised administrative burdens of the bloc’s Common Agricultural Policy.

Source: Türkiye Today with AFP