Protestors have blocked streets in Brussels with tractors and started bonfires in front of the European Parliament. On February 1, the Europe-wide farmers’ protest against policies threatening their existence reached Brussels, where protestors blocked many roads with tractors, started bonfires, set off fireworks, and toppled a statue in front of the European Parliament. “We want to stop these crazy laws that come every single day from the European Commission,” a Spanish farmer representing his country’s farmer’s union told Reuters. According to Reuters, the police used tear gas and water cannons against some protestors who tried to tear down barriers that were erected to protect the parliament. The protest in Brussels happened in the context of a continent-wide uprising, including in France, where 10,000 farmers erected more than 100 blockades on important roads across the country. Farmer protests also took place in Spain, Portugal, Italy, Greece, Germany, Scotland and Ireland.
A German comedian and member of the European Parliament, Martin Sonneborn, wrote on X, formerly Twitter, “thousands of farmers with agricultural delegations from France, Belgium, Spain, Italy and Portugal camped outside my workplace in Brussels. The city is at a standstill, already 230 kilometres of traffic jams at 8 o’clock in the morning.” “As far as the EU is concerned, the outside world and the inside world are clearly no longer in any meaningful relationship with each other: while more than 1,300 tractors are blocking the European Parliament and its burning forecourt outside, the 27 heads of state inside have not even put the farmers’ anger on their agenda,” he wrote. “The so-called common people, the farmers & workers, have often been the main driving force in European history. While those in office are, well, rather described as somewhat ‘retarding’.” “Vive la farmers’ revolution!” Sonneborn concluded. Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò, the former papal nuncio to the U.S., expressed his support for the farmer’s protests in a recent post on X.
“The globalist criminal plan wants to destroy traditional agriculture, animal husbandry, and fishing in order to force people to eat artificial food produced by multinational corporations,” he wrote. “And it is the big investment funds and the Word Economic Forum that are lobbying parliaments to impose a devastating and inhuman ‘transition’.” “I express my complete solidarity with and encouragement to the farmers, ranchers, fishermen, truck drivers, and all those who support them.” “Let us accompany with prayer those who are fighting against the New World Order. May the Lord accompany, protect, and bless those who are waking up before it is too late,” Viganò concluded. Foreign imports and ‘climate change’ policies threaten existence of farmers. At the time of the protests, an extraordinary summit of the heads of state of the EU members took place in Brussels. During the meeting, the politicians approved a 50-billion-euro aid package for Ukraine.
One of the farmers’ concerns is the flooding of the European market with cheap Ukrainian imports that are meant to help the country with its war efforts. Since Ukraine and other non-EU countries do not have to adhere to the high environmental standards of the EU, the farmers view it as unfair competition that threatens their existence. For the same reason, the farmers also oppose a planned trade deal between the EU and the Mercosur bloc, a federation of countries in South America. One of the major issues for farmers is the so-called “green” measures imposed by EU bureaucrats that include higher taxes or cuts to tax subsidies as well as bans on necessary tools such as nitrogen fertilizer. The farmers have also been blamed for their greenhouse emissions and their alleged contribution to “climate change”. They are heavily affected by the EU’s plan to achieve “net-zero” emissions and make the bloc “climate-neutral” by 2050. The plan includes cutting fertilizer use by 20%, limiting the amount of land dedicated to agricultural use, halving pesticides by 2030, and doubling organic food production.
While some of these measures may have a positive impact on food quality, they put immense pressure on farmers, especially smaller farms, whose numbers have been on the decline for decades. The EU’s plan to combat so-called “climate change” could lead to the majority of farmland being controlled by a relatively small elite. Part of the problem for smaller farms is the EU’s common agricultural policy (CAP), a € 55 billion per year subsidy system that has been in place for over 60 years. The system “has historically been based on economy of scale: bigger farms, bigger holdings, common standards,” Jon Henley from The Guardian writes. This policy has led to a continuous decrease in small farms in Europe as they have become increasingly uncompetitive.
Source: Lifesite
Print This Post
Comments are closed