The Rural Coordination called for demonstrations in front of the European Parliament this Tuesday, November 26. But while they had respected the prefecture's instructions for a peaceful demonstration, the farmers had the unpleasant surprise of seeing themselves blocked by hundreds of riot police in Strasbourg.
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The call to demonstrate “peaceful” was launched by the Rural Coordination of the departments of Haute-Saône, Doubs and Côte d'Or. With the aim of going to Strasbourg to discuss with MEPs, meeting this week at the European Parliament. At the heart of this mobilization, the upcoming signing of the free trade agreement with Mercosur and the authorization to import transgenic corn validated by the European Commission.
In total, around forty tractors left yesterday afternoon, Monday November 25, from Vesoul (Haute-Saône) before reaching the town of Niedernai (Bas-Rhin) for the night.
The procession left again this morning towards Strasbourg… before being blocked by hundreds of gendarmes and police officers in the European capital, just 1.8km from the parliament.
“We just wanted to approach parliament by tractor, no blockages, no skips, no fire. […] We did everything correctly, we made statements [auprès de la préfecture]. And there, they put CRS in front and behind us. So we're really stuck. It's a slap in the back,” deplores Florian Dirand, president of the Rural Coordination of 70. This farmer had to interrupt a meeting with MEPs in order to join his colleagues at the blockage point.
On Rue Jacques Kablé, a gendarmerie squadron and police officers stopped the procession at 8:45 a.m. “We’re just waiting for the whole procession before we move them forward,” a gendarmerie commander then explained to our teams.
But at noon, the forty tractors making up the procession still had not moved. “In this game, it doesn’t have to last all day,” announces Florian Dirand. “If the blades lower, forward gear will be engaged, and you will have to push yourself.”
More information to come.
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