Agriculturists and conservative protestors rally in Brussels.
Not too long ago, prior to the European elections, a union of farmers and radical populists came together for a protest in Brussels. With around 500 tractors, protesters assembled in the northern part of this Belgian capital on a weekday. This gathering was said to have included members from the Flemish right-wing party Vlaams Belang and the Polish PiS, as announced by the event's organizers.
The "Farmers Defense Force," a Dutch group known for organizing sizeable protests against the Dutch government's environmental policies last year, was the one behind this rally. Given their association with right-wing populist parties such as the PVV led by Geert Wilders, they're viewed by many farmers and eco-minded organizations as having close ties to these parties.
Major agricultural bodies like the German Farmers' Association (DBV) and Copa-Cogeca's European umbrella group had already withdrawn from this assembly. From Germany, the association "Land creates connections" participated, having actively taken part in the farmer rebellion at the start of the year and, as per MDR research, being associated with the extreme right-wing scene in Saxony.
Evidently, the organizers of this Brussels demonstration had intended to rope in speakers from the conservative political party CDU as well. However, well-known politicians from the party, including Norbert Lins — the head of the Agriculture Committee in the European Parliament — declined the invitation due to their election-related campaigning in Germany.
In the end, the event on Tuesday passed off peacefully, devoid of any incidents or disruptions to traffic, as confirmed by police reports. In contrast, the protests seen in recent months by farmers had involved burning tires, hay bales, not to mention spreading manure on the streets near the European quarter.
