Police use water cannons against protesting farmers in Brussels
Kyiv • UNN
Farmers protested outside the EU headquarters in Brussels against what they see as unfair competition from abroad. Police used water cannons against protesters who threw bottles and eggs.
Today, on February 26, farmers protested outside the EU headquarters in Brussels, where a meeting of agriculture ministers was taking place. The police dispersed the protesters with water cannons. The latter, in turn, threw bottles and eggs at law enforcement officers, Reuters writes, UNN reports.
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About 900 tractors are reported to have flooded part of the Belgian capital today.
The farmers protested against low prices in supermarkets and what they considered unfair competition from abroad.
"We produce food and do not make a living. Why is that? Because of free trade agreements. Because of deregulation. Because prices are lower than the cost of production. That's why we demand that the European Union start acting in this direction," said Morgan Odie, general coordinator of the farmers' organization La Via Campesina.
Police opened fire with water cannons at protesters throwing bottles and eggs near the cordoned-off area where the ministerial meeting was taking place.
European farmers have been protesting for weeks. Polish farmers blocked the A2 highway near the German border crossing until 13:00 to protest EU agricultural policy, threatening to continue or start new blockades.
