Consumers start 4-day fruit and veg boycott
Egged on by the country’s largest consumer protection group, many Greeks are expected today to start a four-day boycott of green grocers’ goods in protest against recent price hikes. The Consumer Institute (INKA), which also called a largely successful boycott of all consumer products on September 3, said it was time «prices became more reasonable in the fresh food sector which has a much higher rate of price rises than any other category of food, packaged or not.» «Let all sorts of profiteers eat on their own,» an INKA statement said. «We will not sit down to table with them.» INKA claimed over 50-percent consumer participation in the September 3 boycott. A government survey on Friday found that fruit and vegetable prices had increased enormously – from 25 to 50 percent – from the previous week. The counterargument is that the EU cannot risk losing face, but within the context of a broader crisis, deferring the Union’s enlargement would not be that serious a setback. It is more crucial for the Greek camp to avoid any rush to reach a settlement on the Cyprus problem that would not be in line with the UN Security Council resolutions, blinded by the prospect of Cyprus’s accession to the EU.
