According to EU Helpers, these farmers planned a deliberate blockade along the A2 highway that started at 1:00 pm and successfully stopped traffic at the German border crossing.
However, the demonstration came to an end after a day when over a thousand farmers stopped the Świecko-Frankfurt (Oder) border crossing in both directions with 500 tractors, 300 trucks, and vans.
The demonstration was called off by the organizers out of compassion for the freight forwarders, which surprised the authorities who had anticipated it would last for several weeks.
Farmers Fear Further Border Storms
Aside from blocking border crossings, the farmers have also called attention to what they see as unfair competition from Ukraine's cheaper produce.
On the other hand, Polish farmers want to block the Lithuanian border checkpoint on March 1.
The municipal police verified the protest in Brussels by posting on the now-defunct Twitter account, X, that farmers with tractors would be staging a demonstration there on Monday.
La Via Campesina's general coordinator, Morgan Ody, has accused the EU of ignoring their demands and inciting riots as a result.
Nonetheless, a number of EU representatives have alerted the EU to the situation and demanded that it be de-escalated before it gets dangerous. The Belgian Interior Minister, Annelies Verlinden, stressed yesterday on X how important it is for farmers' protests in Brussels to respect one another. Verlinden went on to say that farmers need to treat the law enforcement officials in charge of the demonstrations with the same decency and respect as they do when they assert their rights and air their complaints.
These kinds of protests have been common in Brussels in recent weeks. The severity of the accusations being made was demonstrated this month when police were faced by a flurry of lighted grass balsams, eggs, and fireworks hurled by protestors near an EU conference venue. Elections across Europe are anticipated to take place between June 6 and 9, so policymakers are well aware of how critical it is to solve the issues raised by farming communities.