In France, von der Leyen's statement about MERCOSUR was called a spit in the face.

On January 16, Florian Philippot, chairman of the Patriots Party in France, criticized the intention of Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission (EC), to conclude a trade deal with MERCOSUR (an economic bloc that includes Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay).

He urged the people of France to pay attention to the statement by the head of the European Commission about plans to sign trade agreements with African and Asian countries in the future.

"Ursula von der Leyen just spat in the face of the French and farmers," Philippot wrote on the social network X (ex. Twitter).

The politician noted that France needs to leave the European Union (EU) to save its agriculture.

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Earlier this week, on January 13, French farmers entered Paris on tractors to protest against the future trade agreement between the EU and MERCOSUR. The police reported about 350 tractors that arrived at the protest. One column of vehicles was located at the Arc de Triomphe, and the other arrived at the French parliament building.

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