Protesters hurl potatoes at riot police outside EU parliament

Protesters hurled potatoes, set off fireworks and blocked roads outside the European Parliament in Brussels where leaders were gathered for Ukrainetalks on Thursday.

Farmers parked hundreds of tractors in front of the building and threw eggs and potatoes at riot police before setting fire to a huge pile of tyres, leaving the square billowing with black smoke.

Officers deployed tear gas and water cannons against the thousands of farmers, who were protesting against a major trade deal between the EU and South America.

Police intervened when the violence escalated and sought to arrest some of the protesters. At one point, a ‍tractor ‌was driven into a line of riot police, although it did not appear to have hit anyone. ‍

The accord, which is being discussed at the summit, would eliminate tariffs on nearly all goods traded between the EU and five Mercosur nations – Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay and Bolivia.

The farmers worry the deal would see them losing out to cheaper goods – including beef, sugar, rice, honey and soybeans – from countries which face fewer regulations.

“We’re here to say no to Mercosur,” Maxime Mabille, a Belgian dairy farmer, said. “It’s like Europe has become a dictatorship,” he added, accusing Ursula von der Leyen, the European Commission chief, of seeking to “force the deal through”.

EU leaders were holed up in the parliament building debating a contentious proposal to use frozen Russian assets to fund Ukraine.

Donald Tusk, the prime minister of Poland, has warned it’s “money today or blood tomorrow”, urging his counterparts to support the loan scheme.

But Belgium, where two-thirds of Russian assets are frozen, has been resisting pressure from its fellow EU member states to come on board with the loan scheme, fearing backlash from Russia.

Moscow’s threats to take legal action against Western companies holding the assets have heightened tensions.

Vladimir Putin last month described the EU’s plans as “property theft”, while his officials have also been lobbying the US delegation in peace talksto push back against the Brussels scheme.

Belgium has demanded concrete guarantees and protections from the other bloc members.

Italy, Malta, Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic also emerged as opponents to the plan.

Giorgia Meloni, the Italian prime ⁠minister, on Wednesday said that using Russia’s ‍assets ‌frozen in Europe to ‍help Ukraine without a solid ‍legal basis would ⁠hand Moscow “the ‌first ‍victory since the ‍start of ⁠the war”.

A decision at Thursday’s European Council summit is being billed as existential for both Ukraine and the Continent’s wider security.

Volodymyr Zelensky, the Ukrainian president, said failure to reach a decision would be a “big problem” for Kyiv.

“I will speak with all the leaders, present our arguments, and I very much hope we can obtain a positive decision. Without it, there will be a big problem for Ukraine,” he told reporters.

[Source: Daily Telegraph]