2024-02-20 12:23:31
Thousands of farmers from all over Greece are expected to arrive with their tractors in Athens today, stepping up their protests with demands for lower fuel and agricultural input costs, lower electricity costs and a renegotiation of the EU’s new Common Agricultural Policy, reports in. “Kathimerini”.
The planned demonstration is the culmination of a wave of protests that has lasted for weeks and led to farmers blocking key highways in the country for hours, DPA noted. The mobilization of the protestors began yesterday, as tractors from different parts of the country went to the capital, Greek media reports, BTA reports.
Civil Protection Minister Michalis Chrysochoidis initially opposed their arrival in Athens by tractors, suggesting that cars and buses be used instead. He intended to allow only 120 police-escorted tractors to enter the city.
In the end, the government decided not to increase the tension and allowed the protest to take place with tractors without restrictions, as happened in a number of other EU countries, Kathimerini notes.
The government expects that after the rally in Athens, the protests will calm down. Farmers continue to enjoy significant public support, with polls showing around 70 percent of Greeks sympathize with their cause.
Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, who met farmers’ representatives last week but failed to reach an agreement, wrote on Facebook on Sunday that he was firmly on the side of farmers and had already made concessions on energy prices and taxes.
Many other associations, political groups and trade unions are expected to join the farmers’ protests today, DPA notes.