site.btaUPDATED Single Tractor on a Trailer Shows Up for Farmers', Hauliers' Scheduled Protest in Bucharest

There has been a twist in the situation surrounding the protest of Romanian farmers and transport operators, which was due to start at 09:30am on Sunday in Constitution Square in front of the Parliament building in Bucharest. There was only one tractor on the spot at the time indicated, mounted on the trailer of a truck, despite that the local authorities allowed some 5,000 people to join the demonstration with 200 machines. 

A couple of weeks, ago the protesters blocked traffic in Bucharest and several other cities in Romania.

In response to a question by BTA whether farmers and transporters were expected to come later and why there was no one, the people in the vehicle said "It's a democracy. Everyone is free to do what they want", but refused to comment further.

According to some local media, the cold may have turned the demonstrators away. At 9:30 a.m., the temperature in downtown Bucharest was minus 6C. Last night was the coldest in the Romanian capital at minus 9.9C. The avenues leading to the Constitution Square are icy. The square itself is also covered ice and frost. 

"Farmers say they will not participate in the approved protest in Bucharest because they do not want it to be politicised," Digi24 wrote. 

According to the schedule and route approved by the City Council, this morning between 6:30 and 7:00 the vehicles that wanted to join the protest had to move to the "Constitution Square" However, only one truck with a tractor and one civilian vehicle arrived there. 

There were at least three police patrols, a couple of ambulances, four Gendarmerie vehicles. There is also an increased media presence.

It transpired later in the day that protesting Romanian farmers have called on Brussels for support in relation to trade in agricultural products from Ukraine. In a document sent to the European institutions and the Romanian authorities, cited by AGERPRES, they propose that a European system be set up and implemented by 30 April this year to ensure that the destination for all consignments of Ukrainian agricultural products is identified before entry into the EU, that consignments are weighed on entry and exit and that they are entered into a system where they are transparently accessible at all times by any interested party. The purpose of the requested measure is to ensure that Ukrainian products reach their respective destinations and are not diverted en route.

Farmers are also demanding that import thresholds be introduced for every agricultural commodity from Ukraine that is subject to trade. "All products imported above this threshold must be exported outside the EU and therefore approved for transit within the EU, accompanied by electronic seals, tracked in real time by GPS, without diversions or unjustified stops," the farmers said in the letter. 

Farmers warned that if their demands are ignored, they will intensify their protests in both Romania and in other EU Member States.