Protesting farmers tighten squeeze on France's government with 'siege' of Olympic host city Paris

Protesting farmers are vowing to encircle Paris with tractor barricades and drive-slows in a battle with the government over their industry's future

PARIS -- PARIS (AP) — Protesting farmers vowed to encircle Paris with tractor barricades and drive-slows on Monday, aiming to lay siege to France's seat of power in a battle with the government over the future of their industry, which has been shaken by repercussions of the Ukraine war.

The traffic blockages that farmers were starting to put in place on major highways heading for the French capital — host of the Summer Olympics in six months — and continued protests elsewhere in France promised another difficult week for new Prime Minister Gabriel Attal, less than a month into the job.

Attal sought but failed to defuse the farmers' movement last week with a series of pro-agriculture measures. Farmers said they fell short of their demands that producing food be more lucrative, easier and fairer.

They responded with vows to converge from Monday afternoon with their tractors on major highways that serve Paris, to create what they described as a “siege of the capital" intended to squeeze more concessions from Attal's government.

“Our goal isn't to bother or to ruin French people's lives,” Arnaud Rousseau, president of the influential FNSEA agricultural union, among those leading the protests, said on RTL radio.