High energy costs trigger unrest in parts of Europe
By BARRY HATTON
Associated Press
LISBON, Portugal (AP) — High energy costs are stoking unrest in parts of Europe. Spain is deploying more than 23,000 police amid a truckers’ strike Friday, while farmers in France and Greece are snarling traffic with their protests. Russia’s war in Ukraine has further pushed up costs for oil and natural gas in Europe, driving record inflation and making it ever more expensive for farmers and truckers to fuel their equipment and vehicles. A walkout by a group of truckers in Spain has devolved into attacks, with police escorting convoys of trucks that are still working. In France, about 20 farmers protested by driving their tractors slowly down a highway. Hundreds of protesting farmers blocked traffic in Athens.