Complete siege of France, thousands of policemen take to the streets PHOTO/VIDEO

Complete siege of France, thousands of policemen take to the streets PHOTO/VIDEO

The government has announced that 15,000 police officers will be mobilized to prevent tractors from entering "Paris and major cities", BFM TV reports.

Minister of the Interior of France, Gérald Darmanin, spoke yesterday with his closest collaborators about the response of the police to the threats of disgruntled farmers.

Darmanin instructed individual services to deploy a significant defense system to prevent any blockade of the airport and any entry of farmers into the capital.

The police say that they will act moderately and that they will intervene only in case of extreme emergency, if the integrity of people is threatened, or public or private buildings are exposed to serious damage.

​ Farmers in France are protesting low purchase prices for agricultural products and demanding tax cuts, as are farmers across Europe.

Farmers blocked roads in parts of France last week over a government tax on tractor fuel, cheap agricultural imports and low purchase prices. Farmers are also protesting the Free Trade Agreement between the EU and food exporters, especially the agreement with the Southern Common Market Mercosur, which is still being drafted, and which they claim will also contribute to unfair competition in the market.

The government on Friday scrapped plans to phase out state diesel subsidies for farmers and announced measures to reduce the financial and administrative fees farmers face.