Farmers in France, Germany, the Netherlands, Poland, Belgium, Romania, and other countries across Europe are protesting radical leftist governments by obstructing major transport networks with tractors. This widespread populist movement is sweeping Europe at a time when over-regulation, taxes, and the climate change agenda threaten the livelihoods of not just farmers but working-class people and comes several months before the European election cycle kicks off in June.
Some countries hit hardest by protests have been Germany, Italy, Belgium, and France. Protests are expected to spread to Spain and Portugal.
On Tuesday, France’s new prime minister, Gabriel Attal, promised farmers emergency funds and stricter trade controls on foreign products to guarantee fair competition.
However, that might not have been enough, as the farmer’s union in France was unimpressed by concessions offered by the French government. They encouraged their members to continue the fight.
“I’m so proud of you,” Serge Bousquet-Cassagne, head of Lot-et-Garonne department’s farmer’s association, told protesters in the south of Paris.
Bousquet-Cassagne said:
“You are fighting this battle because if we don’t fight we die.”
Meanwhile, Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin told local TV station France 2 that police were preparing to defend strategic areas of larger cities.
“They can’t attack police, they can’t enter Rungis, they can’t enter the Paris airports or the center of Paris,” said Darmanin, adding, “But let me tell you again that if they try, we will be there.”
According to Armstrong Economics:
Farmers throughout the world have been protesting the increasing regulations on agriculture. The media is barely covering the story, and when they do mention it, they say that the farmers are protesting due to Russia blocking supplies from Ukraine. This is simply untrue. The farmers are protesting against over-regulation, taxes, and the climate change agenda that is making it increasingly difficult for them to make a successful living.
EU farmers’ complaints are very basic:
- Out-of-control energy prices (thank whoever blew up the Nord Stream).
- Disastours carbon-cutting targets.
- Overall inflation.
- Bureaucracy from radicals in Brussels.
- Ukrainian grain imports.
The demonstrations, which could soon consume Europe, come ahead of the June European Parliament elections.
Here are scenes on the ground as protests spread across Europe:
Small farmers are upset that WEF elites such as Bill Gates, linked to the World Economic Forum, aim to reset the global food supply chain, a move that could render small-scale farming obsolete.
And discontent is quickly spreading across the West. As we noted earlier this week: “Mess In The West: ‘Army Of God’ Convoy Heads To US Border While EU Farmers Block Cities.”
Unrest in the West is a symptom that leftist politicians are completely out of touch with the common man. Quickly, queue the next crisis. Is that the eruption of war or another virus?