Sixty-six people were arrested in Paris on Friday morning after farmers unexpectedly blocked the Arc de Triomphe and briefly blocked traffic with bales of straw and tractors, police in the French capital said.
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“We went up this morning to lay a wreath at the Arc de Triomphe to commemorate all the farmers who committed suicide,” said Axel Masson, a grower in Loir-et-Cher (center).
“We are still not being heard by the state,” he added, as anger from the agricultural world felt across Europe severely disrupted President Emmanuel Macron's visit to its annual exhibition in Paris last Saturday.
Shortly after 7 a.m. local time (6 a.m. GMT), police cars were positioned at the foot of the monument and traffic was still blocked at the top of the famous avenue. According to an AFP journalist, the demonstration at the foot of the arch began at dawn and ended around 9:40 a.m. local time.
Further actions took place elsewhere near Paris: According to police, four tractors blocked an exit from the ring road and others were parked at another entrance to this boulevard around the capital.
“A convoy of tractors is on its way to the Palace of Versailles,” a few dozen kilometers from Paris, where a police unit is waiting for them, the same source added.
The Arc de Triomphe is a place of remembrance for soldiers who died fighting for France, where a flame is rekindled daily and where foreign heads of state are often invited to visit the capital.
In 2018, the monument was the scene of violence during the “yellow vest” social crisis.
“Financial distress “
Among the 66 arrested is Patrick Legras, a manager of Rural Coordination, the second French agricultural union, who is used to muscular actions and is the initiator of this action.
The union, particularly angry at free trade agreements, announced on X that it had mobilized “to save French agriculture” ahead of the last weekend of the agricultural fair. “Rural Coordination accepts the star symbolically and peacefully,” he also wrote, calling for “quick action to save our 45% of farms in financial distress.”
While they were originally supposed to go to the Palace of Versailles as part of an authorized demonstration, “the farmers took this detour to go to the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier,” says Christian Convers, secretary general of rural coordination, contacted by AFP. But “they didn't have time to go much further as the police immediately intervened and the discussion was broken off.”
Given the anger in agriculture that has persisted for several weeks, the executive is trying to respond to farmers who are demonstrating to seek better income and fewer administrative and environmental restrictions, especially at the expense of concessions on pesticides. Arc de Triomphe, which was the scene of violence during the “yellow vest” crisis in 2018.
Rural Coordination, the second French agricultural union, is known for being a vocal voice of peasant anger. Born out of a split with the majority union FNSEA in 1991, it is a critic of free trade agreements and accustomed to forceful action.
“At the moment there is no result for the future. The show went quite well, but if it continues like this, the anger will never end,” warns Mr Convers.