Farmers plan to dig in
Militant cotton farmers in central and northern Greece were poised to step up their four-day roadblock campaign for higher crop subsidies today as unionists met late into the night with Agriculture Minister Giorgos Drys in an attempt to resolve the festering dispute. Despite the fact that Thessalian farmers moved their tractors off the main highway linking northern and southern Greece yesterday afternoon in a «goodwill gesture» ahead of the evening talks, the lot of drivers was little alleviated. Police continued to divert traffic off the main thoroughfare and onto narrow country roads in the fear that flash roadblocks would result in massive traffic jams. Protesters were planning to block the crucial Tempe pass today if negotiations with Drys proved fruitless. Roadblocks were maintained at key points of central Macedonia’s road network, with the cotton farmers of Yiannitsa – who have been intermittently blocking roads for the past 12 days – threatening to block the Axios River bridge today, in a move that would to a great extent sever road transport between western and central Macedonia. Farmers want the government to increase the quantity of cotton eligible for European Union subsidies – currently 1.14 million tons. But the Agriculture Ministry claims it has detected widespread fraud regarding the extent of cotton eligible for subsidies. Yesterday, government spokesman Christos Protopappas said many farmers had planted their fields with corn but declared the crop as cotton, which draws higher subsidies. Ministry officials said yesterday they would go ahead and publish the names of farmers involved in fraudulent claims, prompting farmers in the Thessaloniki area to threaten defamation suits if no names are forthcoming. Protopappas said militant farmers should put their faith in negotiations with the ministry. «The best thing farmers can do is to consider that the dialogue proposed by the ministry can seek to reach solutions regarding certain of their objections. Of course, this will not apply to breaches of the law.» «Under no circumstances can any form of protest turn against society and punish ordinary citizens,» he stressed. Opposition New Democracy accused the government of hypocrisy and irresponsibility. »Instead of slandering the farmers, the government should realize its responsibilities regarding its acts and omissions that have driven farmers to despair,» party spokesman Theodoris Roussopoulos said. «It must find solutions to the problems it has created.»
