Brussels: Europe and the Arabs
Agricultural tractors closed the roads leading to the Schuman neighborhood in Brussels, where the headquarters of the European Union institutions are located, in a new protest march to express farmers’ anger as a result of the agricultural policies followed and to demand reforms and amendments.
Agricultural tractors caused the closure of some highways and internal roads and disrupted internal transportation in the capital of unified Europe. According to local media in the Belgian capital, Brussels, the agricultural sector has been organizing regular protests for weeks against the policy of the Belgian and European governments for the third time this year, and angry farmers headed to Brussels. Hundreds of tractors are expected to arrive again on Tuesday. The police called on everyone to avoid the capital by car.
Due to the farmers' protest, there are a lot of potential traffic disruptions in Brussels on Tuesday. Many tunnels have already been closed to traffic.
The Wetstraat area, the area where the Prime Minister and Parliament are located, has also been closed, as there will be a “symbolic measure” there at around 10.30 am. The European organization,  which represents small and medium-sized agricultural companies, expects several hundred tractors in Brussels on Tuesday. Much less than last time. “But we know from experience that a small number of agricultural vehicles is enough to shut down entire neighborhoods,” police say. A "symbolic action" was planned for Wheat Street, . This is close to the European Commission. It is difficult to predict what the demonstrators will do next.
Although some progress has been acknowledged since the outbreak of the farm protests, angry farmers are still demanding a concrete answer to their questions about, among other issues, fair wages for farmers and ending free trade agreements. Via Campesina says recent proposals put forward by the European Commission are “insufficient” to address the causes of farmer protests across Europe. Hence this new procedure.
The Brussels Public Prosecutor's Office opened preliminary investigations against three people who allegedly crossed the border during a large farmers' demonstration in the capital at the end of February. The Public Prosecutor's Office stated in a press release on Monday evening that three officers were injured during those protests.
On March 18 of this year, the head of the Farmers Union, following a farmers’ demonstration, did not rule out that new measures would follow, and Lodi Sisense did not rule out that new protest measures would be followed by farmers, “if the measures taken are not quickly transformed into policy.”
“Measures that go in the right direction have been agreed, but they must urgently be transformed into policy measures that make things easier and better for our farmers,” said Sessines. “What has been distorted by politics in recent years needs time to be corrected, but it must be done. Otherwise, I cannot rule out new protests. We will also continue to negotiate other issues. There are still many people who have to take some steps and speak out, for example For example, on agreements on fertilizer business plans, on the purchase of agricultural land, and on administrative simplification. There were farmers' protests last week in the ports of Ghent and Antwerp.