Belgian farmers want to blockade seaport in protest

Belgian farmers, outraged by rising costs, the European Union’s environmental policy and cheap food imports, plan to block access roads to the Zeebrugge container port in Belgium starting Tuesday.

This was reported by Reuters with reference to the financial daily De Tijd.

On Monday, Belgian farmers blocked highways in southern Belgium and parked tractors near the EU Parliament in Brussels.

The protesters plan to block access to the North Sea port, the country’s second largest, for at least 36 hours from 14:00 CET (13:00 GMT).

Farmers also hampered traffic near the Dutch border on the E19 highway on Tuesday morning as a convoy of tractors headed for the port city of Antwerp.

On Tuesday, Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Kroo is set to meet with farmers’ associations.

In recent weeks, farmers across Europe, including Germany, Poland, Romania and France, have protested what they call excessive red tape, high fuel costs and unfair competition as a result of the European Union’s liberal trade policies.

Tags: Belgium, protests