A total of 138 tractors have lined up in front of the Greek Parliament in downtown Athens on Tuesday. Thousands of farmers from across Greece but also unionists from several sectors and a crowd of ordinary citizens join their voices for a common cause.
#ΑΓΡΟΤΕΣ #Συνταγμα #αγροτες pic.twitter.com/ctXECSFk55
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Farmers keep flocking to the Greek capital with private cars, buses and ferries from several parts of the country.
The farmers have been setting road blockades for the last three weeks, demanding government support measures to lower the production cost as well as the full payment of compensation to flood-ridden farmers and breeders of Thessaly.
Even at this very last moment the government told protesters that there is no fiscal space for more measures.
Στρατός απο τρακτέρ στο Σύνταγμα! 👏💪🏻 #ελλαδα #rec #αγρότεσ #fyp https://t.co/KB6j2tzALx μέσω @YouTube
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However, the government and the affiliated mainstream media, they all support the protest, especially after Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis instrumentalized the protest, saying a day earlier to Star TV that he considers that the mass demonstration in the center of the Greek capital – as it happened in other European cities – could be his own “means of pressure”, as he said , at the next meeting of the European Commission.
The farmers’ problems are “structural and in conjunction with these, the debate on the new Common Agricultural Policy. ”
“When I go to negotiate in Brussels I will say ‘you know, we also had demonstrations in our country and from these demonstrations especially in terms of bureaucracy and the speed of ‘greening’ to put it simply, the transition in a more environmentally friendly agriculture, there must be adjustments to the Common Agricultural Policy,” the PM stated.
He urged the protesters to cooperate with police… and so they did.
One should not forget that the majority of farmers are conservative New Democracy voters.
The Prime Minister is not the only one to use the protest for his own benefit.
Leader of main opposition party SYRIZA, Stefanos Kasselakis, rushed to Syntagma square where he climbed on two tractors and spoke with mainly younger protesters.
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Also leaders of opposition part KKE and Course to Freedom visited the protest rally, while PASOK/KINAL was present without its leader.
At the same time, the police has been gradually redirecting traffic in downtown Athens and closed access to main roads.
Police are urging the public to avoid the above streets until the protests have concluded.
According to latest information by ANT1 TV, the farmers will spend the night in front of the Parliament.
The rally concluded around 9:30 at night, the crowd left but the tractors will staya there until around 12 noon on Wednesday.
“Even at this very last moment the government told protesters that there is no fiscal space for more measures.”
Of course there is – just stop funding you know where.
If by “…funding you know where” you mean the EU, you are aware that Greece is a net recipient from EU funds to the tune of €4.7 billion, the second biggest after Poland.
If you didn’t mean the EU then please enlighten me who you do mean as I have no idea.