Police fire tear gas at protesting farmers in Brussels

The demonstrators converged on EU headquarters where the bloc’s agricultural ministers were meeting on Monday

Police fired tear gas to disperse protesting farmers near the European Council’s main building in Brussels on Monday, according to footage posted on social media.

Farmers angry at what they perceive as excessive bureaucracy and competition from cheap Ukrainian grain imports tried to break through police barriers as they surrounded the EU headquarters and demanded more support from the bloc. 

The authorities reportedly counted more than 300 tractors in the streets of Brussels, with many parked a few hundred meters from the cordoned-off area where the ministers were meeting. According to videos that have been emerging, the farmers set fire to piles of tires and hay bales strewn across the Rue de la Loi, a four-lane highway that runs parallel to the European Council’s headquarters. The demonstrators also sprayed baton-wielding police officers with manure from a truck that had blockaded a road in the city. Water cannons were deployed to put out the flames.