A huge column of tractors descended the Rue de la Loi in the EU quarter in Brussels early Monday, disrupting traffic in the city until the farmers escalated protest is against the environmental policies of the EU, Politico writes.
Hundreds of Belgian farmers headed to the Schumann roundabout where EU agriculture ministers are meeting today.
In chaotic scenes, law enforcement erected barbed wire outside EU institutions and met the rowdy crowd with water cannons, while protesters set tires on fire, dumped manure on the street and defied police barricades.
Farmers in several EU countries – including France, Italy and Spain – are protesting EU environmental policies as they struggle with falling incomes, high costs and competition from cheap imports.
Earlier this month, European farmers staged a violent protest in Brussels, setting fires outside the European Parliament and toppling a statue.
Police warned Brussels residents to use public transport on Monday as they set up a blockade in the area around Rue de la Loi. Schuman and Maalbeek metro stations are closed.
The blockades are expected to last until around 4 p.m
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