‘Poverty is knocking on our door and the government has no plan to support us,’ they said in their statement. On Tuesday (11 November) they are due to hold a protest rally at noon outside the Ministry of Rural Development and Food, followed by a march to OPEKEPE.
In their announcement, farmers, livestock breeders and olive producers called on the prime minister to cancel his visit to Thrace.
‘The mockery of us has become a noose and is choking us. It would be truly sad if, instead of directly addressing our problems, the government pushed us into clashes with the police in our region,’ they warned.
Their fears proved justified, as tensions erupted when demonstrators attempted to break through a police cordon around the airport.
Against the backdrop of the OPEKEPE scandal and long delays in agricultural subsidy payments, protesters declared:
‘The peasantry is dying while the government plans visits that do nothing to improve our tragic situation. We demand meaningful dialogue with the relevant ministries and agencies.’
Farmers’ statement in full
‘In view of the upcoming visit of the prime minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, the farmers of our prefecture publicly appeal to him to cancel his arrival in Thrace via Alexandroupolis airport.
The rural world is in despair, the promises made to us repeatedly have not been kept in the slightest, poverty is knocking on our door, the government has absolutely no plan and we have no other path but that of mass and dynamic mobilisation.
The mockery of us has become a noose and is choking us. It would be truly sad if, instead of directly addressing our problems, those in power pushed us into confrontation with the police forces of our region.
The peasantry is dying and the government is planning visits with no impact on improving our tragic situation. We demand the opening of meaningful dialogue with the relevant ministries and organisations.’
Farmers to protest in Athens
The National Union of Agricultural Cooperatives is holding a large rally today outside the Ministry of Rural Development and Food, demanding immediate payment of compensation from OPEKEPE and urgent support for livestock farming, which is suffering due to the outbreak of sheep and goat pox.
After the rally, protesters will march to OPEKEPE, where a delegation of farmers is expected to deliver a resolution to the Deputy Prime Minister and the Minister of Rural Development.
The Federation of Livestock Breeders and Associations of Thessaly has also called on members to participate, noting that ‘the poor management of the smallpox eradication campaign, which has led to the slaughter of more than 400,000 animals, combined with delays in payments, has brought the sector to the brink of collapse’.
A meeting of the Panhellenic Committee of the Blockades has been scheduled for 23 November in Nikaia, Larissa, to set the date for nationwide tractor mobilisations in early December.
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