While another day of farmers' protests at the port is underway in Cagliari, tensions are rising in Brussels. A thousand tractors are blocking several roads near the European Quarter, where EU leaders have gathered for the extraordinary European Council.
The demonstrators, who arrived from all over Europe to protest against the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) and the Green Deal, blocked Place de Luxembourg, in front of the European Parliament, and started some fires with wood and tyres. Many firecracker explosions.
About a hundred demonstrators threw bottles and eggs at the headquarters of the European Parliament and one of the historic sculptures on Place du Luxembourg, dating back to 1872, was knocked down. The statue is part of the John Cockerill monumental complex, in memory of the industrial pioneer steel and railway industry in Belgium: the demonstrators threw it to the ground on the lawn in the center of the square, surrounded by new fires set with wood and tyres. The sign: “People of Europe, say no to despotism” was posted on another statue of the monument.
The police, lined up in anti-riot gear behind the barriers positioned along the entire perimeter, activated the water cannons.
(Unioneonline/D)
