Italian farmers stage fresh protests, drive tractors into Rome

By Giada Zampano

ROME (AA) - About 1,500 Italian farmers staged a new protest in Rome on Thursday, driving a small convoy of tractors into the city's ancient Circus Maximus, as part of the wider campaign against European and Italian agricultural policies.

In recent weeks, farmers had already caused widespread disruptions to traffic across Italy by driving convoys of tractors along main roads and into city centers.

Farmers’ organizations were expecting around 20,000 protesters at the Rome rally, but participation on Thursday was limited due to the movement's internal divisions as farmers, represented by different groups, staged separate actions around the capital.

A small group of protesters gathered in front of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's office on Thursday morning, while another delegation visited the European Commission’s offices in Rome to deliver an open letter of complaint.

The farmers’ grievances range from the spiking cost of agricultural fuel to EU environmental regulations, which they say are damaging their production and making their work economically unsustainable.

The Meloni government last Friday met some of the farmers' unions and main associations, promising to reinstate a limited tax break they had previously suspended, in an attempt to stop wider protests.

Some of the autonomous groups organizing the protest, however, say they do not feel represented by unions and large agriculture associations, pledging to continue their revolt.

The European Commission has also made some concessions in recent weeks, following the string of protests across several European countries, which became a hot political topic ahead of European parliamentary elections in June.