Farmers from across Europe descended on Brussels on Thursday, where they staged disruptive protests in front of the European Parliament.
Hundreds of tractors honked their horns and snarled the streets of the de facto European capital as European Union leaders gathered for a summit.
Protestors held banners saying “No farmers, no food” and chanted slogans against European agricultural policies.
The farmers, outraged by rising production costs, strict EU environmental policies and the inability to compete with cheaper, unregulated imported goods, came from several European countries after a wave of national protests.
The angry farmers started bonfires and torched bales of hay and dung in Luxembourg Square. They also tried to hurl stones and eggs at the parliament building.
Anti-riot police deployed water cannons to push them back.
They also toppled the statue of industrialist John Cockerill, a move that disappointed Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo.
“Taking down the statue of John Cockerill, an emblematic figure of Belgian industry, sends out the wrong signal. Let's stop pitting agriculture against industry. Farmers and industrialists can get along. We need both sectors if we are to aim for a strong, sustainable economy,” he wrote on X.
Later in the day, De Croo, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen agreed to meet with farmers' groups.
Meanwhile, fresh farmers' protests began in Portugal on Thursday involving blockades on several roads and highways, including along the border with Spain.
While some Spanish farmers protested in Seville on Thursday demanding more water resources, Spanish unions have called nationwide protests for next week.
But in France, where farmers have been blocking key highways for days, two major unions announced Thursday that they were suspending protests after the government offered a package of new relief measures for the agriculture sector.
French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal announced €150 million ($163 million) to improve the social and financial conditions of farmers, adding the government will start working to discuss a bill in the Senate aiming to "protect" farmers against products imported from neighboring countries.
Italy's Milan joined the European cities that witnessed farmers' protests on Thursday. A group of farmers with about 10 tractors, accompanied by security forces, arrived in front of Milan's Central Railway Station and the Lombardy regional government building to protest.
Speaking to reporters after the European Council meeting in Brussels, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said the EU made "mistakes" with practices such as reducing emissions that affect the climate, allowing imports from Ukraine and directing farmers to fallow.
"European policy needs to change," she said.
