Farmers to bring tractor protests to Athens
Protesting farmers have agreed to step up their mobilizations across the country by blocking national and provincial roads as well as motorway toll stations from Wednesday.
At a meeting in the town of Nikaia in Larissa, farmer representatives also agreed to organize a tractor rally in Athens next week as well as in other cities nationwide.
The farmers said on Monday that they are unhappy with the government’s proposals on addressing their various issues.
Their demands include duty-free agricultural diesel, cheaper electricity, subsidies on supplies and animal feed, the renegotiation of the EU’s new Common Agricultural Policy and full compensation for lost income and a stop to the labelling of non-Greek produce as Greek.
The government has reiterated that the scope for dialogue with the farmers is open. “The government is open to dialogue with farmers,” Rural Development and Food Minister Lefteris Avgenakis said at the start of the debate on a draft bill relating to agricultural issues in Parliament’s Committee on Production and Trade.
On Monday, government spokesman Pavlos Marinakis warned, however, that the government’s resources are not “limitless, and thus no further measures are being planned.”
