San Francisco Frontiers - Hardline farmers back in Brussels to protest EU policies

Police said around 500 of the vehicles had gathered near the Atomium monument on the city outskirts, rallying to a call by the Dutch-founded group "Farmers Defence Force", with around 1,200 demonstrators present.

It was the latest in a string of farmer protests that have brought Brussels to a halt several times in recent months, but as of mid-afternoon there were no reports of incidents or disruption to traffic.

The FDF movement behind the protest is seen as close to the far-right, which has widely seized on farmer grievances in the run-up to the June 6-9 polls.

The farmers' mainstream pan-European group Copa-Cogeca, present in previous protests, stayed away from the event.

Several hard-right figures -- including from Poland's nationalist Law and Justice (PiS) and the Flemish Vlaams Belang -- were listed among the days' dozen speakers.

France's right-leaning Coordination Rurale farmers union said it was taking part in protest at the environmental demands of the EU's Common Agricultural Policy, as well as over-regulation and free-trade deals it said were "distorting competition".

Past farmer protests in Brussels, part of a months-long movement that roiled Europe early this year, have led to significant concessions in their favour, including a rollback of eco-friendly requirements in order to qualify for EU subsidies.

This time around, the farmers were given permission to demonstrate only in a specific area on the edge of Brussels. Police were deployed to prevent them from approaching the EU institutions at the heart of the capital.

G.Collins--SFF