PARIS, France: French police arrested dozens of people on Friday at a farmers’ protest on the Champs Elysees in central Paris that blocked traffic in morning rush hours.
Farmers used tractors and hay bales to temporarily stop traffic on famous boulevard near the Arc de Triomphe, a short distance from President Emmanuel Macron’s office on Elysee avenue.
Holding banners on the main street, demonstrators said their goal was to “save French agriculture.”
Farmers across Europe have been protesting for weeks over overly restrictive environmental regulations, competition from cheap imports from outside the EU and low incomes.
Farmer Axel Mason said around 100 of his friends gathered in the main square “peacefully and law-abiding” from around 3am (2am GMT).
According to the media personnel present at the site, some demonstrators handed over sacks of potatoes to the drivers who were stuck in the traffic around the Victory Arch.
Some of them chatted with police officers before being arrested, as Paris hosts the annual agricultural fair, a must-see event for politicians from all walks of life.
The prosecutor’s office announced late Friday that 72 people had been arrested and all had since been released.
“The Rural Coordination takes over the Arc de Triomphe symbolically and peacefully,” the farmers’ union said in a statement on social media, as they further said that it was a cry to “save” agriculture in France.
It said it “wants quick action to save 45 percent of our farms which are in financial distress”.
French farmers continue to block roads, burn tyres and blockade supermarkets, saying more is needed even after the government promised reforms.
Macron spent Saturday at an agricultural fair, where riot police stopped hundreds of demonstrators who defied him as he entered.
President Macron said the government is working on measures to ease the economic burden on farmers and promised to meet with farmers’ representatives again in the coming weeks.
