Protests by farmers were recently sparked in several EU countries due to rising taxes and excessive regulation. Since January 18, 2024, farmer protests and road blockages have been ongoing in France to protest, among other things, low food prices and proposed reductions in state subsidies for famers' diesel fuel. The movement has damaged property, including government buildings, affected major roads, and seeks to put Paris under siege.
Ultranationalist revolutionaries, white supremacist and fascist groups throughout France have expressed their full support for the farmers and urged activists to join the demonstrations, at times adding their own claims to the farmers' social demands. These extremist groups have called on their supporters to "take part in the revolt," using the slogan "Our People First." Writing that they intend to "regain control," of the State, they have asserted that "Paris is the problem" and advocated separation from France, or alternatively a "Frexit," after the model of the British "Brexit."
Following is a sample.
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Calls by fascists, identitarians and neo-Nazis to join the protests
On Telegram, a fascist revolutionary channel shared an AI-generated image of tractors with French flags flying from them proceeding down a road in the countryside, with a crowd of farmers following them. The channel wrote, expressing its intention to join the ongoing farmers' protests, currently taking place across Europe: "From Saturday on, large rallies will be organized in front of the prefectures of France, and other places of the guilty [French] State [...] Join us!"
A French white supremacist channel which frequently shares fascist and neo-Nazi content, posted a photo of a graffiti mural depicting a skull (in a French beret) and crossbones with a crossed pitchfork and scythe behind it. The mural features the message: "Hold Up Your Pitchforks," and was created in support of the farmers' protests.
On Facebook, a Versailles-based Identitarian youth group posted an image depicting tractors on a highway and featuring the text "There Is No Country Without Farmers. Let's Support The Revolt," as well as the group's emblem. The post reads: "[Our group] gives its support to the farmers' revolt! [...] We call [on readers] to support, and take part in, this revolt, because we are all involved. Farmers are the backbone, the roots of a society. If they disappear, society will disappear too [...]"
Calls to "wake up" against a "government of thieves," regain control of France and "Frexit"
On Instagram, a Carcassonne-based ultranationalist group shared a post in support of the farmers' protests. The account wrote: "The farmers who feed us are drowning and dying on the barricades. The EU is making us bleed on every level and keeps bringing us to our knees [...] Wild and uncontrolled immigration threatens our physical and civilized existence. And so many other problems imposed on us by the trader system [...] The time to wake up has come! French, wake up, you are here at home!" The post includes a photo of two individuals, their faces digitally covered with stickers of animals, standing next to posters they had pasted on a bulletin board reading, "French, Wake Up! You Are Here At Home!"
On Telegram, a white supremacist channel shared an image showing congestion on a road caused by tractors and individuals protesting. At the top of the image are the words: "BEGINNING TONIGHT." The channel wrote: "We encourage all French nationalist movements to take part in the current social movement as of this evening [...] Against a government of thieves. Against those who, for so long, have dispossessed us [...]"
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