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They reached Brussels early on Thursday morning, honking their horns: hundreds of farmers rolled into the Belgian capital with their tractors. Hay burned in the government district, farmers set off pyrotechnics and threw eggs at EU buildings.
Kevin Bertens, farmer, “Today we are protesting against the many regulations from Europe. There are too many to do normal farming.”
»You need us, so help us. We need help for a normal life.«
Farmers were expecting more than 1,000 vehicles at the EU summit in Brussels. The week before, farmers had already protested in numerous EU countries. In France they blocked all eight highways to Paris. The police secured Europe's largest food market south of the capital with armored vehicles.
Farmers also protested in Germany, Italy, Spain and Portugal, here in Greece on the side of the motorways.
Vassilis Platis, farmer: »We are taking part in a national and pan-European effort. It's about the survival of farmers. We are fighting against practical, obvious problems.”
Farmers have already received political concessions: the European Commission announced that it would protect them from cheap exports from Ukraine during the war. The Commission also wants to allow farmers to use fallow land that was originally supposed to remain vacant due to environmental regulations.