Whilst the Ministry of the Environment has confirmed that the army will put up a fence along the Belgian border over the next few days, Luxembourg's hunters federation has slammed the government for its reactions to the spread of the African swine fever.

On Tuesday, the Ministry of the Environment confirmed that the army will be setting up a 20 kilometre fence along the Belgian border over the next few days due to African swine fever.

The fence building is in collaboration with the bridges and roads authority. The aim is to create an additional barrier to the one existing several kilometres over the border in Belgium.

RTL

© Domingos Oliveira

The ministry hopes to prevent infected wild boars travelling to Luxembourg and infecting animals in the Grand Duchy. The fence will be completely set up in the next few weeks.

However, hunters from the St Hubert federation (FSHCL) have slammed the government concerning how secure such a barrier is.

After criticism aired by farmers, the hunters' federation invited two experts to an information meeting on Tuesday evening. The experts described the situation in Belgium and France, and went through the Luxembourgish authorities' policy at the meeting.

The French expert, Eugène Mertz, was so incensed by the Luxembourgish government's actions that he was nearly out of breath. He claimed the ministry was "sleeping" instead of acting on the issue. He criticised the lack of discussion and communication, instead comparing the instant reactions of the French departments of Ardennes, Meuse, and Meurthe et Moselle to the lack of action in Luxembourg.

He described the Luxembourgish government as acting completely irresponsibly, and highlighted the urgency of the catastrophe that could occur.

In Germany and France the authorities feared that the African swine fever could affect exports, leading to losses of billions of euros.

His Belgian counterpart explained that Wallonia's first measure had been to massively reduce the wild boar population alongside building fences. The vet, hunter, and University of Namur professor Jean-Marie Giffroy believed the Luxembourgish authorities should have culled the wild boar population as well.

The only politician present at the meeting was the head of the CSV in the Chamber of Deputies Martine Hansen, who agreed that the Luxembourgish government lacked specific measures and transparency. She believed the ministry should have organised an information meeting with farmers and hunters.

The hunters, for their part, laid out their demands, which included hunting wild boars throughout the year, a fence from the surveillance zone until the German border, and further support to legalise hunting wild boars.