Here is what European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said are the reasons for the mass protests sweeping Europe, speaking to the Feb. 1 European Parliament plenary in Strasbourg:
“While the European Council was in session, farmers from across Europe were taking to the streets. Many of them feel pushed into a corner. Farmers are the first in line feeling the effects of climate change. Droughts and floods have destroyed their harvests and threatened livestock. Farmers are feeling the impact of the Russian war. Inflation, the rising cost of energy and fertilizers. Nevertheless, they work hard every day, to produce the quality food we eat. For this, I think we owe them appreciation and thanks and respect.”
Nobody expects that von der Leyen and her oligarchical peers will cope with reality, but stating that farmers’ woes are due to climate change and Putin, rather than to her policies, will only fertilize the farmers’ rage against those fanatic ideologues in Brussels.
