A police officer critically injured within the eye throughout farmers’ protests in opposition to Mercosur in Strasbourg | EUROtoday

A police officer was critically injured within the eye on Tuesday throughout clashes with farmers who demonstrated en masse in entrance of the European Parliament in opposition to the settlement with Mercosur and who remained mobilized on Wednesday January 21.

“Today in Strasbourg, a CRS police officer (…) involved in the system governing the mobilization of farmers was seriously injured in the eye. I’m thinking of him tonight.”declared the Minister of the Interior, Laurent Nuñez, late Tuesday evening on his X account. “The freedom to demonstrate and express one’s opinion cannot be achieved through violence”added the minister.

On the same social network, the Alliance Nationale Police union showed images of a CRS evacuated by its colleagues “after being violently attacked during the agricultural mobilization”.

Some 5,500 farmers, French but also Italian, Belgian and Polish, joined Parliament on Tuesday, sometimes by tractor.

In the afternoon, the atmosphere became tense, with demonstrators throwing smoke bombs, bottles and fruit towards the CRS who responded with tear gas grenades.

Farmers remain mobilized on Wednesday while MEPs must decide whether or not to refer the validity of the agreement with Mercosur to the Court of Justice of the European Union (EU), signed on Saturday in Paraguay.

For its detractors, the agreement will shake up European agriculture with cheaper imported products that do not necessarily comply with EU standards, due to a lack of sufficient controls.