Farmers in Brussels have sprayed police with fertilizer and pelted them with bottles and eggs in protest at what they say is the increasing unsustainability of their jobs.
Tires were set on fire and roads were blocked with tractors, “causing congestion in the city centre” in demonstrations that coincided with an upcoming meeting of council members. European Union Agriculture Ministers to discuss their concerns.
Monday's clashes are the latest in a series of marches and demonstrations organized by farmers across Europe.
Brussels Police said 900 agricultural tractors entered the city, many of them heading to the European Council building where ministers are meeting.
Riot officers, some behind concrete barriers and barbed wire, fired water cannons and tear gas at demonstrators as they defended the European Union headquarters.
The demonstrators, in turn, set off disturbing fireworks, filling the air with smoke.
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Sky's Adam Parsons reports from the Belgian capital
Farmers are angry at what they say is the slow death of the tiller, which is dying out due to red tape and competition from cheap imports made in countries that do not have relatively high EU standards.
Dozens of tractors lined up on the main roads leading to the city's European district, stopping traffic and halting public transportation.
Some tractors stormed one of the barriers, causing the terrified officers to flee.
Police officers stand guard. Photo: Reuters
“We are being ignored,” said Marieke van de Viver, a farmer from northern Belgium.
Another simply said: “Agriculture. When you are a child you dream about it, and when you grow up you die because of it.”
Protesters threw eggs at police. Photo: AP
Sky correspondent Adam Parsons, in the Belgian capital, pointed to the front line of what he called “violent-minded demonstrators who engaged in street battles with the police.”
He added that police running water cannons nearby shot “hundreds and hundreds of gallons of water.” [protesters’] direction.”
A protester runs from a water cannon. Photo: Reuters
He said he saw protesters throwing eggs and dozens of fireworks at officers, while their tractors caused “traffic gridlock in central Brussels.”
“Farmers say their jobs are becoming unsustainable, costs are rising, but the prices they receive remain the same, and they cannot cope with cheap imports from places like Ukraine or trade agreements.
Photo: AP
“The price of diesel is rising and governments across Europe are doing nothing to help.”
He added that their anger “extended into peaceful but noisy protests.”
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French farmers block roads
Farmers say UK farming is “on its knees”.
Police fire tear gas at demonstrators. Photo: AP
Farmers from all over Spain blew whistles, rang cowbells and beat drums, and in Poland, farmers blocked the road at a border crossing with Germany.
France, Spain, the Netherlands and Bulgaria have seen protests in recent weeks as political parties campaign for Europe-wide elections in June.
It has already had results. Earlier this month, the EU executive shelved a proposal to combat pesticides in a concession to farmers, who form an important constituency.
