Paris (EFE).- French agricultural unions continued on Friday their protests against the culling of herds affected by lumpy skin disease; however, some unions expressed openness to a potential Christmas truce regarding the government’s request to end road blockades.
As of Friday, shortly before the French Prime Minister, Sébastien Lecornu, began separate meetings with the agricultural unions, the government spokeswoman Maud Bregeon declared that the government “will not tolerate any more blockades” during the Christmas holidays.
The Minister of the Interior, Laurent Núñez, stated that the objective is to avoid new blockades and appeal to the unions’ sense of responsibility to lift the existing ones during this period.
After meeting with Lecornu, Arnaud Rousseau, president of the National Federation of Agricultural Workers’ Unions (FNSEA), the largest union, spoke in favor of a truce. However, he insisted that Lecornu send him a letter by Friday night describing the prime minister’s intentions regarding the sector’s concerns.
Lecornu said he would meet with Rousseau again between Jan. 8 and 10.
Meanwhile, Pierrick Horel, president of the French Young Farmers (allies of the FNSEA), expressed a similar position.
The aforementioned was echoed by the 30 FNSEA farmers protesting on Friday in front of the residence of French President Emmanuel Macron and his wife Brigitte Macron in the coastal Le Touquet (north).
Early Friday, the farmers left after throwing tons of potatoes, cabbage, manure, branches, and tires.
The Rural Coordination, the right-wing second-largest agricultural union, which leads protests in southwestern France along with the left-wing Peasant Corporation, limited itself to asking for “goodwill” from its members during the Christmas holidays.
However, it declined to explicitly request an end to the highway blockades that began last week and left it to departmental officials to decide whether to call a truce, though it deemed it advisable to “take a break.”
“The population supports us. We cannot afford to distance ourselves from it,” said Rural Coordination president Bertran Venteau upon leaving the meeting with Lecornu. The aforementioned comes on the eve of a weekend when many French people will hit the road to spend Christmas with their families to enjoy the holidays.
Venteau is awaiting Lecornu’s written communication about his commitments to the agricultural sector and said he saw a “glimmer of hope” in finding a solution to stop the culling of herds affected by dermatosis, which sparked the protest 10 days ago.
Stéphane Galais, the spokesperson for the Peasant Confederation, was “disappointed” after the meeting with Lecornu. He said they cannot lift the blockades due to the lack of concrete progress on “access to vaccination.”
He assured that “the anger will not calm down if he does not prioritize” protecting herds and livestock farmers. They also oppose the commercial agreement between the European Union and Mercosur, which has been postponed until January 2026, as well as the reform of the Common Agricultural Policy.
On Friday, Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez informed the press of 93 protest actions involving 4,000 people and 900 agricultural vehicles, primarily on four highways, including the one connecting Spain to Bordeaux.
“We hope these current blockades will be lifted, and we will remain alert to avoid new major interruptions towards the south of France, the southwest, or obviously, towards the ski resorts,” Núñez noted.
He insisted that the strategy now is to avoid more blockades through “dialogue,” with “a lot of flexibility, tact, and listening,” as well as police intervention in cases of “damage or violence.” EFE
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