Citizen Protection Minister Michalis Chrysochoidis has rejected the farmers’ request for a protest rally with tractors and agricultural machinery scheduled to take place next week.
At a meeting with farmers’ representatives on Friday, the Minister proposed that protesters use buses and private vehicles to reach the Greek capital.
However, the farmers reportedly insist on going to Athens with tractors and have already designated the Alamana block by Lamia in Central Greece as a meeting and starting point.
Even though the government has sent them the message that “there is no room for new fiscal interventions”, the farmers are escalating their mobilizations after the decision for a protest rally in Athens.
They believe that the government has the fiscal means to strengthen more the production costs such as electricity and fuel and other things.
On Friday, they continue to symbolically block parts of the national road network, while at the customs of Niki, Evzones and Kipi tractors are ready to block traffic.
During the meeting in Nikaia on Thursday, they all agreed on the need to escalate the mobilizations, considering that their demands were not met by the prime minister.
In a statement, the president of the United Federation of Agricultural Associations, Rizos Maroudas, denounced the government “for the attempt to suppress and intimidate colleagues who are in customs and ports, having to deal with the MAT [riot police] and lawsuits”.
see, if you are going to ask permission to protest the government, what kind of answer do you think they will make? you don’t ask permission to protest, you turn it around on the politicians who are the most illegal thing in this whole country! they ought to be all in court right now on their way to long prison terms!