According to in.gr, farmers upheld their commitment to keep roads open, but the Traffic Police in most areas has not allowed vehicles to pass through the blockades directly. Instead, it has ordered mandatory bypass routes. Only at Malgara did ELAS permit regular traffic flow.

At Malgara, after more than three weeks of protests, tractors were repositioned to free two lanes towards Athens, in line with the Panhellenic Blockade Committee’s decision for the Christmas period. Traffic towards Athens has resumed, while the Thessaloniki-bound lanes have been intermittently accessible for several days.

Yet significant delays remain elsewhere. Long queues were recorded from Ritsona to Thebes and on surrounding roads. ELAS later reached agreements with farmers at Amfiklia, Viotia and Ritsona to open two lanes to ease congestion. Meanwhile, viewers on MEGA complained that on the Lamia–Athens National Road, although farmers had left the road open, the police continued to close lanes and redirect cars to a 40-minute detour through Parnassos, again citing safety concerns.

At Schimatari, Live News footage showed kilometre-long queues hours before the main wave of holiday exits began, while drivers following GPS directions reported being pushed onto dirt roads. Similar delays appeared in Thessaly, particularly at the Platykambos junction. At Nikaia in Larissa, one of the country’s largest blockades, the Athens–Thessaloniki National Road remains closed. On the E-65 in Karditsa, traffic is stopped between Agia Paraskevi and Agioi Theodoroi.

On the Athens–Patras route, no significant problems have yet been reported. However, in Patras the city’s ring road remains closed by farmers, with the Eglykada blockade on Olympia Odos still in place. Commenting on the police decision to keep lanes closed, Achaia farmers’ representative Alekos Thanopoulos described the reasoning as “irrational”, saying farmers already offered to shift tractors aside, an offer they maintain.

In northern Greece, the old Thessaloniki–Edessa road at Chalkidona and the Egnatia Odos at Derveni remain open until Friday, although the Derveni blockade still affects key junctions. In Western Macedonia, farmers say roads will remain open until 26 December. In Promachonas, Serres, traffic is flowing and is expected to remain so for the next three days.

Drivers heading towards Kozani or Ioannina are encouraged to follow diversion signs; ambulances and emergency vehicles are passing without obstruction. In Evia, farmers announced they will not close the Chalkida High Bridge until Friday to facilitate travel, though traffic is still being routed through police-ordered detours. ELAS urges drivers to consult its website for alternative routes.

Farmers say that in some areas they cannot reduce the number of tractors further without risking their ability to re-establish blockades if negotiations collapse. They stress that most citizens continue to support the mobilisations and argue that the current disruption on the roads stems from the government’s refusal to reach meaningful agreement with the agricultural sector.

ELAS statement

Responding to farmers’ accusations that the police, not the blockades, are causing gridlock, ELAS issued a detailed statement insisting its measures are required for public safety.

It argues that with tractors, obstacles and pedestrians present on high-speed motorways, the risk of a serious accident is elevated, regardless of farmers’ assurances. For this reason, it considers traffic diversion “the only way to prevent risks, and not an option”.

ELAS stresses that the measures aim to protect both drivers and the farmers themselves, who are positioned on roads not designed for pedestrian presence. Decisions, it says, are made on the basis of risk assessment rather than statements of goodwill, and traffic restrictions will remain in place wherever human life could be endangered.

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