Macron blames far right for chaotic farmers’ fair in Paris – POLITICO

PARIS — French President Emmanuel Macron accused protesters of seeking chaos and pushing the agenda of the far-right National Rally on Saturday, as violent clashes between riot police and disgruntled farmers punctuated the Paris International Agricultural Show.

Since the start of the farmers' protests in January, the French government focused its efforts on ensuring smooth running for the Salon — an annual weeklong event showcasing France’s farmland and usually attended by upwards of half a million people.

Macron and his government pulled out all the stops to portray themselves as friends of the farming industry and made a series of policy announcements over the course of a month in an effort to appease the agricultural anger, including by softening anti-pesticide regulation at the request of farmers' unions.