France’s interior ministry has ordered a substantial deployment of security forces around Paris as irate farmers threatened to head toward the capital. French farmers are pressing the government to address their demands for better compensation for their produce, decreased bureaucratic obstacles, and protection against low-cost imports. The interior minister has ordered 15,000 police officers to be deployed, mainly in the Paris region, to prevent any blockades of Rungis International Market and the Paris airports. Farmers from the Lot-et-Garonne region intend to use their tractors on Monday to head toward the Rungis International Market. France’s two largest farmers unions have announced that their members from areas surrounding the Paris region will seek to block all major roads to the capital, aiming to put the city “under siege.” Earlier on Sunday, two climate activists threw soup at the glass protecting the “Mona Lisa” at the Louvre museum.
On its website, the “Food Riposte” group stated that the French government is failing to uphold its climate commitments and called for measures equivalent to the country’s state-sponsored healthcare system to ensure better access to healthy food and provide farmers with a decent income. Angry French farmers have been using their tractors to set up road blockades and disrupt traffic across France, as well as depositing malodorous agricultural waste at the entrances of government offices. The government announced a series of measures on Friday, which farmers argue do not adequately address their demands. France’s new prime minister visited a farm in the central region of Indre-et-Loire, acknowledging the difficult position of farmers. He acknowledged the need for short, medium, and long-term solutions and pledged to take additional measures against what he referred to as “unfair competition” from other countries importing food to France.
