Source: AFP
French President Emmanuel Macron spent the day at the annual agricultural fair on Saturday as angry farmers beat him and clashed with police.
Police kept protesters at a safe distance as Macron toured the fair, inspecting cattle prizes, tasting honey from Normandy and cheeses from the Alps and shaking hands with exhibitors.
But as he entered the fairgrounds in the morning, hundreds of protesters crashed the gates and clashed with police.
In the ensuing confusion, the exhibit was repeatedly closed and then reopened to the public.
Source: AFP
Throughout the day, police and protesters jostled each other in chaotic scenes.
Police arrested six people and eight officers were injured in the violence, Paris force chief Laurent Nunez said on Saturday.
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In another incident, farmers threw manure at the stand of dairy giant Lactalis, which they accuse of not paying enough for their milk.
“Who would have thought this morning that 12 hours later we would still be working and moving forward,” Macron said around 8 p.m.
“It is ridiculous that a small number of farmers are spreading violence at their own fair,” he added. He finally left around 9:00pm. — 13 hours after it arrived.
Macron meets farmers’ leaders
While French presidents have often jeered at the annual show, Saturday’s scenes were a first.
Farmer leaders had warned Macron that his visit to the “Salon de l’Agriculture” — a fixture on the president’s calendar — would not go smoothly if the government did not make good on promises to meet their demands.
He had started the day at the fair with a two-hour early morning meeting with the leaders of the three main farmers’ unions, FNSEA, Jeunes Agriculteurs and Coordination Rurale.
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Source: AFP
Standing at the plastic table, his jacket and shirt sleeves rolled up, the president listened to complaints about prices, bureaucracy and state aid.
It was a step down from the big national debate he had originally planned before scrapping it after a row over who could be invited.
“I always prefer dialogue to confrontation,” Macron said. “I’m telling you there’s work being done on the ground, we’re in the process of simplifying things.”
Macron stressed that his government had made 62 commitments to meet farmers’ demands, including promises of minimum prices for certain agricultural products.
The protesting farmers were not impressed.
“Did you hear him? He’s not letting us talk, he’s talking to us. We want him to go,” farmer Eric Labar, a member of FNSEA, told AFP.
FNSEA chief Arnaud Rousseau was more conciliatory. “There are some advances we are happy about,” he told LCI TV.
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Macron said he would meet with farmers again in three weeks, after the fair closes on March 3.
Source: AFP