Watch: Protesting farmers ‘besieging’ Paris block motorways with tractors

Oliver Browning
Tuesday 30 January 2024 14:38 GMT
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Louise Thomas

Louise Thomas

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Watch as protesting farmers continued to “besiege” Paris on Tuesday (30 January) by blocking major roads with their tractors for a second day, demanding just prices and loosened regulations.

Farmers argue they are being hit by falling incomes, environmental regulations, rising red tape and competition from imports.

Thousands moved to block major highways to Paris on Monday, following similar protests that took place in Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands in recent weeks.

Traffic on eight main motorways into the capital was blocked yesterday and the action continued into Tuesday, with farmers saying they aim to stop food deliveries reaching supermarkets in Paris - something officials have warned them not to do.

France’s interior minister, Gérald Darmanin, said 15,000 police and gendarmes had been mobilised to prevent the tractors from entering the capital and other cities where protests were happening.

He also warned that blocking Rungis market, which supplies fresh food to about 12 million people in Paris, would be crossing a red line.

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