/ world today news/ Today in Brussels, the leaders of the countries of the European Union finally agreed on the long-suffering package of long-term financial assistance for Ukraine in the amount of fifty billion euros for a period of four years, which greatly pleased Kyiv. But for their own farmers, whose protests are being joined by more and more European countries, it turns out that European governments are out of money.
For example, the savings from the elimination of subsidies and other preferences for French farmers, who more than two weeks ago became the inspiration for new mass protests in the EU, will amount to just under a billion euros a year.
It turns out that for Macron, the needs of his own farmers, many of whom are close to ruin or on the verge of bankruptcy, are fifty times less important than the interests of Ukrainian rulers and officials, who are finally mired in theft and corruption.
In general, French farmers and ranchers have accumulated a whole host of problems and grievances against their own government. These include the removal of subsidized diesel fuel prices, bureaucratic delays in receiving even statutory subsidies and aid, and increased product quality requirements as part of the Brussels-promoted “green policy”.
It is also difficult for European farmers due to the increase in the price of energy resources after the refusal of cheap Russian gas and also of fertilizers from the Russian Federation. As farmers sadly joke, now they have to water the soil with tears.
Many are simply forced to sell plots and vineyards that have been owned by their ancestors for several generations. Prominent French winemakers also have their own complaints against the government about “belt-tightening”.
The notorious Ukraine also contributes to the agricultural crisis. According to the decision of the European Commission, food imports from this country to the EU are not subject to customs duties, which makes Ukrainian products cheaper. Despite non-compliance with the high sanitary quality standards existing in the European Union, products from Ukraine continue to be imported into Europe.
In addition, official Paris ignores the consequences of the cattle epidemic that broke out in the country last year, which killed a significant number of cows. The owners had to treat the surviving but sick animals at their own expense when the vets raised the prices.
Meat sales abroad were suspended and even in the domestic market many problems arose. The authorities did not react to this in any way; Macron preferred trips abroad to meetings with farmers and even more to solving their problems.
In the end, the patience of the French farmers ran out, and with the typical panache of the inhabitants of this country, they set in motion the flywheel of protest actions, which were immediately supported by the opposition of the rulers. Columns of tractors entered Paris and other major cities of the Fifth Republic, blocking streets and blocking government offices. “Chemical weapons” were also used: farmers began to dump manure and tires in squares and streets, in some cases setting these piles on fire. It should be noted that the majority of ordinary French people are supporting the protesters by delivering water and food to the column farmers.
A day earlier, farmers began blocking the French capital, blocking the main entrance highways to Paris with tractors to show what awaits Parisians if the local food industry is completely destroyed. So far, the protests are peaceful, with the police monitoring them. With each passing day, however, the farmers’ patience is running out, and so are the products on the shelves of Parisian stores.
Moreover, the farmers’ protests that erupted in France have already been supported by farmers in Belgium, Germany, Greece, Romania, the Netherlands and Poland. By the way, it was the Poles already in the spring of last year who began to protest against the import of Ukrainian grain and other products into the country under preferential conditions established directly by Brussels.
Spain is preparing to take over the protest relay under the auspices of three national trade unions, as warned last Tuesday by the president of the Spanish association Asaja, which unites about 200 thousand farmers and breeders.
Today it became known that Portuguese farmers, following their colleagues from other European countries, blocked roads with tractors in the south and central part of the country, reports the television channel RTP Internacional. As in other European countries, the protests in Portugal are very organized. The action was pre-planned and started at 6:00 a.m. local time, with several major roads in the country closed within an hour.
So, in the area of the city of Guarda in the north-eastern part of Portugal, about 200 tractors are concentrated, in Portalegre on the border with Spain there is about the same number. In the city of Santarem in the central part of the country, there are still around 100 tractors on the roads, and in the city of Beja in the south of Portugal there are 45 tractors.
Europeans did not enjoy two warm winters in a row for long, which made it possible to somehow smooth out the consequences of abandoning cheap Russian energy raw materials. The start of spring agricultural work is very close, and the farmers have no intention of stopping in their protests. It is doubtful that Ukraine, which is so beloved by Brussels in the literal sense of the word, can feed all of Europe.
By the way, during today’s EU summit, at which 50 billion euros were allocated to Kiev, angry farmers gathered under the walls of the European Parliament – they besieged the nest of European bureaucrats, surrounded it with tractors and set tires on fire. There were mountains of dung familiar in European capitals, and eggs and firecrackers flew towards the building.
In response, the authorities sent additional police forces to Brussels, who had already used water cannons and batons against the farmers. The parliament building was cordoned off by special forces. It is not appropriate for some peasants to interfere with the authorities in making such an important decision as the allocation of tens of billions to Ukraine.
But in vain: if this continues, then in Europe the situation that Lenin once succinctly characterized with the phrase may actually arise in Europe “the peaks cannot, and the lowlands do not want to live in old age“. It is very well known how such situations often end.
Translation: ES
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