Welcome to Vonderland
Farmers aren’t convinced.
While Hansen tried to calm tempers inside the Parliament, hundreds of farmers rallied outside the EU institutions in Brussels, waving flags and chanting slogans like “Welcome to Vonderland” — a jab at von der Leyen for what they see as the betrayal of Europe’s farm sector.
“They’re dismantling 70 years of European history,” fumed Massimiliano Giansanti, the head of Copa, the powerful EU farming lobby, referring to the CAP’s post–World War II origins.
For many of Europe’s farmers, the CAP isn’t just a subsidy system, it’s a birthright.
“They want to have a declaration of war to the farmers. OK, we are ready,” Giansanti added.
This time, there were no tractors, just flags, chants and an artificial intelligence-generated song blasting about farming subsidies as protesters marched from the Parliament to the Berlaymont, the Commission’s headquarters.