French peasants' "Surround of Paris"

From different directions, French farmers are heading towards Paris, taking their anger to the capital. Thousands of tractors surrounded the city on January 29.

It looked like a military operation. Farmers called it “Operation Siege of Paris,” while French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin ordered the construction of a “defensive system” to protect the capital and important structures such as airports, markets, etc.

Tractors heading to the capital

Protests have been held in recent weeks across France, a major agricultural producer in Europe. Farmers are angry about falling incomes, bureaucracy and environmental policies that they say undermine their competitiveness with other countries.

Early on January 29, protesters blocked the A13 motorway in the west of the capital, the A4 in the east and the A6, where hundreds of tractors are rolling towards Paris from the south. By mid-afternoon, they appeared to have achieved their goal of setting up eight roadblocks on major routes into Paris, according to the traffic monitoring service Sytadin.

By nightfall, some 1,500 tractors had been deployed at six major intersections entering Paris. Another target was the Rungis International Market – the world’s largest fresh food wholesale market, known as the “belly of Paris”, which supplies most of the capital’s restaurants, cafes and supermarkets.

World - French farmers' — French farmers block a highway with tractors during a protest against price pressures in Longvilliers, near Paris, France, on January 29, 2024. A banner reads “Your food starts here.” Photo: Al Jazeera

A banner on a tractor at the protest read: “We will not die in silence.”

“We need answers,” said Karine Duc, a farmer in the southwestern Lot-et-Garonne department, as she joined a convoy of tractors heading toward Paris. “This is the last battle for farmers. It’s a matter of survival,” she told AFP on January 29.

Representatives of key farmers' associations met French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal in an hours-long meeting later in the day.

Farmers came to demand fairer prices for agricultural products, continued fuel subsidies and financial support for organic farming. They are also demanding simplified bureaucratic procedures at the European Union (EU) level and loosened agricultural regulations.

Farmers have vowed to maintain the siege until February 1, when French President Emmanuel Macron will join European leaders in Brussels to discuss the EU budget and resolve the agricultural crisis.

“Red line” of protest

“Operation Encirclement Paris” was prepared with “almost military” precision, said Stephane Sanchez, director of the Paris branch of the French National Confederation of Farmers’ Unions (FNSEA). There were similar encirclements in other cities and towns, including Lyon, Limoges and Toulouse, where traffic jams were severe and food deliveries were cancelled.

Interior Minister Darmanin said 15,000 police and gendarmes were mobilised to prevent tractors from entering Paris and other cities where protests are taking place, and to clear the way to Charles de Gaulle-Roissy airport in the north of the capital and Orly airport in the south.

Mr Darmanin called on security forces to exercise restraint. But he also warned farmers not to interfere in strategic areas around the capital. “We will not allow government buildings, tax offices, supermarkets to be damaged or trucks carrying foreign agricultural products to be blocked,” he said.

Armored police vehicles were deployed to the Rungis wholesale market on January 29 after some farmers threatened to “occupy” it. Mr Darmanin warned that blocking the Rungis market, which supplies 60% of the fresh food for some 12 million people in Paris, would be tantamount to crossing a “red line” in the protests.

So far, two people have died in the French farmers’ protests. On January 23, a car crashed into a barricade, killing a woman and her teenage daughter and seriously injuring the woman’s husband.

President Macron has ordered Prime Minister Attal to focus on trying to calm farmers' anger, fearing the situation could escalate into a protest in the style of the “Yellow Vests” (Gilets Jaunes) movement, which saw extremely violent riots against fuel tax hikes across the country from 2018 to 2020.

Some farmers have called themselves “Green Vests” (Gilets Verts). Farmers’ representatives say the French government’s response so far has been inadequate.

Wave of discontent spreads

“The prime minister has given us snacks, and now we want him to work a little harder and give us more,” said Arnaud Lepoil, a member of the leading farmers’ union FNSEA.

FNSEA President Arnaud Rousseau and Young Farmers' Union (SJA) President Arnaud Gaillot met Prime Minister Attal for more than three hours late on January 29, AFP sources said.

“Our goal is not to bother the French people or make their lives difficult, but to put pressure on the government,” Mr Rousseau told RTL television before the meeting.

In an interview with La Tribune de Dimanche, Mr Rousseau said Mr Attal had only considered a fraction of the 122 demands the protesters had made to the authorities. Farmers are waiting for answers on how to deal with cheap grain and poultry imports from Ukraine, pension issues and EU environmental directives.

The French government is trying to prevent widespread farmer discontent ahead of European Parliament elections in June, seen as a key test for President Macron's administration.

The Elysee Palace said Mr. Macron had convened a meeting with several ministers on the afternoon of January 29 to discuss the situation.

During a visit to a farm on January 28, Prime Minister Attal sought to address farmers' concerns, after a series of concessions announced on January 26 failed to ease the crisis.

“I want us to clarify things and see what additional measures we can take,” Mr. Attal said during his visit.

Farmers will begin a second day of blockades on strategic roads around Paris on January 30 despite “new measures” promised by Mr Attal.

The farmers' protests are not limited to France. Similar grievances are being voiced by farmers across Europe, with parallel protests taking place in neighboring Belgium. Belgian farmers have set up barricades on major highways, including in the capital Brussels.

Meanwhile, hundreds of German farmers are blocking key ports such as Hamburg, one of Europe’s busiest container shipping hubs. Farmer protests are also growing in Poland, Romania and the Netherlands.

The wave of farmer discontent is a symptom of a broader problem plaguing agriculture across the continent. The conflict between environmental regulations, fair prices and the survival of farming communities is an urgent global concern .

Minh Duc (According to France24, Daily Mail, The Guardian)

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