Greek farmers warn they’re warming up for protests
Greek farmers are warming up for extended protest action, representatives of their unions warned on Tuesday after meeting in Larissa, central Greece, over the weekend.
Farmers, who are complaining about new European Union regulations on the agricultural sector among other issues, will begin their protest action by joining a rally organized by Communist-affiliated PAME at Syntagma Square in central Athens on November 1.
Their representatives said on Tuesday that action will escalate after the end of the winter harvest in mid-January, possibly to include roadblocks, which has been a standard tactic in previous years.
They said that the EU’s new Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) will lead to a reduction in subsidies by as much as 40 percent, adding that increases in taxation and production costs are also taking a heavy toll on the sector, leading thousands of farmers to bankruptcy.
