Farmer protests: Belgium expands blockades, vows to keep tractors in place until EU summit

Tractor blockades across Belgium expanded on Tuesday as farmers across the continent continued their protest against the European Union (EU) for the future of their industry.

Similar to German and Polish farmers — who recently demanded changes in increasingly stringent agricultural standards — workers from France and Belgium are calling for relief from price pressures and taxes, which they say are making their livelihoods unsustainable.

“The end of agriculture will mean the end of civilization,” Belgian farmer Adelin Desmecht said on Tuesday.

Among these farmers’ grievances are environmental standards which they say leave EU farmers undercut by imports which do not have to respect the same norms.

Though the tractor protests were initially planned to kick off on Thursday — when the EU summit kicks off in Brussels — Belgian farmer Nicolas Abbeloos said they “wanted to be heard and to speak to ministers… because they are slowly killing us off."

In response to the ongoing protests, French President Emmanuel Macron said he wants the EU to regulate grain and chicken imports from Ukraine and to allow flexibility on farming rules to help soothe anger among French farmers.

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