Farmer protests spread to northern Greece
Farmers in the northern prefectures of Kozani, Kastoria, and Grevena, have staged protests and drove tractors in convoys towards towns to highlight problems in their sector that they say “threaten the sustainability of agricultural and livestock production.”
Issues related to the implementation of the new Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) are at the center of the farmers’ concerns.
In Kozani, farmers held a meeting with the local mayor and regional government, blocking access to the latter’s office for the duration of the meeting.
Farmers have said they intend to block the Egnatia motorway at the Siatista junction next week.
Dimitris Moschos, a farmer from Polykarpi in Kastoria, whose organic farm was awarded as the best in the EU in in 2023, said that the new CAP measures have reduced income from plant and animal products “by an average of 52%.”
The protests are the latest in a series of farmer mobilizations across the country.
Earlier this week, farmers in Central Greece’s Larissa and Karditsa protested government inaction over the reimbursement for crops, livestock and farming equipment lost in September’s Storm Daniel.
Farmers across the European Union have taken to the streets over a plethora of issues in recent weeks. France has witnessed two weeks of protests in rural regions while other European countries including Germany and Poland have also seen demonstrations by farmers angry over eroding living standards.
French farmers blocked one of the main motorways linking Paris with the northern city of Lille and Belgium on Friday, causing lengthy traffic jams as part of nationwide protests over low food prices and excessive bureaucracy.
Unions have called for the roadblocks in and around Paris to increase pressure on Prime Minister Gabriel Attal’s government, which the farmers accuse of not doing enough to help them.
Scrambling to ease tensions, the finance and farm ministers discussed with food industry officials on Friday fair prices for produce – a ‘number one priority’ for farmers who say they are suffering from the government’s drive to lower consumer prices. [AMNA, Reuters]
