French farmers block roads, dump produce as protest moves closer to Paris

French farmers blocked highways and dumped crates of imported produce on Thursday, demanding urgent action on low farmgate prices, green regulation, and free-trade policies as swelling protests moved closer to Paris, Report informs, citing France 24.

Farmers said the protests, now in their second week after breaking out in the southwest, would continue as long as their demands are not met, posing the first big challenge for new Prime Minister Gabriel Attal.

“All possibilities are still on the table,” Arnaud Gaillot, the head of the Young Farmers (Jeunes Agriculteurs) union, told journalists when asked about reports that farmers could start to disrupt traffic in Paris as soon as Friday.

French intelligence services have warned the government that regional farming unions have called on their members to converge on the capital, Le Parisien newspaper and BFM TV said.