Aerial view of a demonstration by Greek farmers gathered with their tractors in front of the Parliament in Athens, February 20, 2024 (AFP/Aris MESSINIS)
Hundreds of Greek farmers and tractor drivers converged on Athens on Tuesday to demand more financial aid for the sector, protests similar to those of their colleagues in other European countries.
Convoys of dozens of tractors, escorted by the police, were to reach the center of Athens at the end of the afternoon and park in front of the Parliament as a sign of protest, according to images broadcast by local media.
The majority of farmers from the agricultural regions of mainland Greece but also from Crete (south) must arrive by bus, we learned from the police.
This has taken special measures in the center of Athens which should partly be closed off to traffic.
Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, who met last week with representatives of professional unions, called on farmers on Monday to cause “as little disruption as possible”.
“I completely understand that our farmers want to organize a symbolic demonstration in Athens like what happened in other European capitals,” he said on Star TV.
But the Tory leader insisted the government had “nothing more to give” to angry farmers.
The Farmers’ Federation indicated that it was not “satisfied with the additional measures announced by the government”.
Greek farmers began protesting last month, as did their colleagues in France, Germany, Italy, Poland and Spain and other European countries.
Their discontent is partly fueled by the slow pace of compensation after last year’s devastating fires and floods in Thessaly, the country’s main agricultural production plain.
Demonstration of Greek farmers in front of the Parliament in Athens, February 20, 2024 (AFP/Theophile Bloudanis)
They are also calling for import controls, reduced fuel taxes, better prices for their products and a relaxation of European Union environmental regulations.
After paying them between 2,000 euros and 4,000 euros last year, the government has promised additional aid of 5,000 to 10,000 euros this year.
The government has proposed reducing farmers’ energy bills over the next ten years and reducing VAT on fertilizer and animal feed from 13% to 6%.
© 2024 AFP
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