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The Ministers of Ecological Transition and Agriculture, Christophe Béchu and Marc Fesneau, were the target of egg throwing and whistles at the Agricultural Show on Friday March 1. The incident forced them to cut short an event, noted an AFP journalist. Around twenty people, some of whom said they were members of the departmental federation of the FNSEA of Seine-et-Marne, shouted in particular “Fesneau resignation” and held up signs “Come back to Earth”, while the two ministers were on the stand of the ecological transition agency (Ademe). Marc Fesneau and Christophe Béchu were forced to leave the stand, escorted by a large cordon of plainclothes police officers.
Marc Fesneau reacts to the surprise action of Rural Coordination. “We need to dialogue and perhaps not necessarily through prohibited actions”reacted the Minister of Agriculture on Friday, after a surprise action carried out in Paris by a hundred farmers from the Rural Coordination, earlier in the morning. Guest of France Bleu OrléansMarc Fesneau emphasized that it was “a demonstration which had not been declared”. For his part, MP Marc Ferracci (Renaissance) spoke on franceinfo of the links between the agricultural union and the National Rally: “We’re not fools.” The action on Place de l’Etoile ended before 10 a.m., with the departure of the last tractors and the removal of the last bales of hay, noted the franceinfo journalist on site at 9:40 a.m.
Sixty-six people arrested, according to the police headquarters. One of the spokespersons for the agricultural union, Patrick Legras, told Agence Radio France that he had been “taken on board by the police”shortly before 7 a.m. “What country do we live in? This is becoming a big nonsense”reacted Friday on franceinfo Sophie Lenaerts, vice-president of Rural Coordination.
A symbolic place. Place de l’Etoile was the scene of violence during the “yellow vest” crisis in 2018. Christian Convers, secretary general of Rural Coordination, contacted by AFP, explained that “the farmers took this detour to go to the tomb of the unknown soldier”. But “They did not have time to go much further since the police immediately intervened and the discussion was cut short.”
The A86 and A4 motorways also disrupted. Farmers blocked the A86 and the A4 at Saint-Maurice (Val-de-Marne). At 7:45 a.m., the Sytadin traffic information service recorded 110 km of traffic jams, at the time of the reopening of these motorways.