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full screen Tractors with fertilizer block highway near Lyon. Photo: Laurent Cipriani / AP
A peasant revolt has broken out in France.
The list of demands sent to the government must be fulfilled by Friday at the latest.
Otherwise, they threaten to paralyze Paris with fertilizer and tractors.
Large protests have broken out across France.
At least 55,000 farmers are said to have participated in the demonstrations on Thursday, according to the organizer.
Train and car traffic has been blocked by parking tractors on highways and pouring large amounts of manure on the tracks, according to Le Monde.
They have also dumped manure inside McDonald’s restaurants and set fire to waste and straw bales in central Bordeaux.
The farmers have sent a list of 100 demands to the French government regarding everything from the price of diesel to be lowered to McDonalds to stop importing meat from other countries.
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full screen Long queues near Strasbourg on Wednesday. Photo: Jean-Francois Badias / AP
“Will go to Paris if necessary”
By Friday at the latest, Prime Minister Gabriel Attal must come up with an answer, otherwise they threaten to target Paris, which has so far been spared.
The farmers warn that all entrances and exits to Paris will be blocked by tractors, trucks and manure if the demands are not met.
– We are waiting for the government to listen to us. But our president is not even in France, so he doesn’t seem too concerned, says the 29-year-old grain farmer Maximilien Dauchy to Le Monde and continues:
– The government must remove the blinders and take us into account. Our strength is that everyone is united and we will go to Paris and Brussels if necessary.