Farmers on the A16 protest on January 28, 2024. The “siege of Paris” operation has been initiated by the farmers who have been protesting throughout France for over a week. This is to block the capital city of Paris. This mobilization on the major roads in the Île-de-France region began around 2 pm on Monday, January 29th.
The president of the Young Farmers of Île-de-France, Clément Torpier, stated that their objective is not to inconvenience the population but to receive responses from the government, and for the government to go further in the measures already taken. This took place on BFMTV while Prime Minister Gabriel Attal announced several simplification measures last Friday.
In response, the farmers intend to set up eight blockades, as mentioned by the FRSEA of Île-de-France to the HuffPost. The areas occupied by the demonstrators with tractors include the Chennevières area on the A1, the A4 at Jossigny (blocked in both directions), the Total station of Ourdy on the A5 (in the direction of Paris), the Villabé bridge on the A6, the Longvilliers bridge on the A10 (blocked in both directions), the Buchelay tollgate (Yvelines side) on the A13 (blocked in the province-Paris direction), the Gennevilliers bridge and the D311 on the A15, and the Isle-Adam interchange on the A16.
The president of the FDSEA Seine-et-Marne, Cyrille Milard stated that it will be a complete blockade. He is coordinating the blockades on the A4, A5, and A6, and he specifies that traffic will be cut in both directions. However, he mentioned that there are no plans to “enter Paris,” according to franceinfo.
The syndicates of Young Farmers, Rural Coordination, and FNSEA have stated that farmers from Aisne, Aube, Eure, Eure-et-Loir, Île-de-France, Marne, Nord, Oise, Pas-de-Calais, Seine-et-Marne, Seine-Maritime, and Somme will be mobilizing.
In order to hold out “as long as possible,” rotations will be put in place, and buses will be chartered “to prevent those from the north, for example, from coming to the capital by tractor,” as stated by Stéphane Sanchez, director of the FNSEA Grand Paris Basin to Le Parisien.
It is reported that if the government does not respond to their demands, farmers are considering blocking the “main national roads”, as stated by Stéphane Sanchez. He did not specify when this would start.
