Columns of tractors lined the streets of Brussels early Thursday to press European Union leaders gathered for a summit to do more to help farmers in the face of taxes, rising costs and cheap imports.
One tractor carried a banner reading “If you love the country, support those who run it” as farmers from Belgium and other European countries tried to make themselves heard at a meeting of EU leaders.
Another banner read: “No farmers, no food.”
The main roads in Brussels, the heart of the European Union, were blocked by around 1,000 tractors, according to police estimates.
Security personnel in riot gear stood guard behind barriers at the EU headquarters where leaders are due to meet.
“If you see how many people we are here with today, and if you see that it is all over Europe, then you must have hope. We must have hope that these people see that agriculture is necessary. It’s food, you know,” said Kevin Bertens, a farmer from near Brussels.
Farmers say they are not paid enough, are stifled by taxes and green regulations and face unfair competition from abroad.
They have already secured several measures, including proposals by the bloc’s executive commission to limit imports of agricultural products from Ukraine and loosen some environmental regulations on fallow land.
