French farmers split on lifting blockade

New French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal appears to have survived the first crisis he faced by appeasing striking farmers with concessions on Friday, but protesters are divided with one group favoring lifting road blockades and the other wanting to extend the demonstrations.

Attal said the government would “put an end” to the rising cost of diesel fuel used for farming machinery.

There would also be an emergency fund to help cattle farmers battle illnesses among their livestock.

“We have decided to place agriculture above everything else,” he said.

The movement was split on how to react. The farmer who initiated the first blockade and has become a key figure in the protest movement, Jerome Bayle, said that having “won” on major points, he would reopen the freeways by midday Saturday.

But minutes later, FNSEA boss Arnaud Rousseau dashed hopes of a swift end to the crisis, calling for “continued mobilization.”

“What was said this evening doesn’t calm the anger, we need to go further,” he told French broadcaster TF1, adding that the concessions “didn’t (meet) all expectations.”

The rallies mobilized around 55,000 people, according to the FNSEA.

The government has been trying to keep discontent among farmers from spreading months ahead of European Parliament elections which are seen as a key test for President Emmanuel Macron’s government.

Friday’s encirclement of the capital followed days of disruption on motorways as well as tractor convoys through major cities and protests in front of government buildings.

Protesters on the A10 motorway west of Paris hung an effigy of a farmer in overalls from a mock gallows.

The A1 motorway heading north from Paris was blocked from Friday morning by tractors and hay bales, causing big jams.

WITH AFP