BRUSSELS: Concrete barriers and barbed wire surrounded the European Union’s headquarters on Monday as farmers, angry at red tape and competition from cheap imports, drove their tractors into Brussels in a fresh show of force as the bloc’s agriculture ministers met.
The police carrying riot gear patrolled near barricades set up at the main entry points to the European Council building, where the 27-nation bloc’s agriculture ministers were gathering. Scores of tractors adorned with flags and banners were ranked in lines, snarling city traffic. Some lamented what they see as the slow death of working the land. “Agriculture: As a child you dream of it, as an adult you die of it,” said one.
At the start of the month, a similar demonstration turned violent near a summit of EU leaders.