Farmers and livestock breeders in Greece are in outrage due to the ongoing sheep and goat pox and the freezing of subsidies due to the OPEKEPE scandal. They are not only angry but also desperate watching step by step their economic destruction as the government moves at the usual turtle pace.
A 75-year-old farmer in northern Greece collapsed and died on Monday when he learned that authorities will cull his livestock due to the sheep pox. The news< for the elderly man in Mikro Monastiri, Central Macedonia, who was suffering already from some health issues was too much to bear. He passed away shocking not only the local community.In another incident by Volos, Magnisia, another farmer got panic about hearing the news of losing his flock and his whole professional existance and reportedly fled the scene threatening to take his own life. For hours, his family, relatives and friends were searching for him and located him alive and in shock late on Tuesday.The sheep and goat pox in Greece is taking dramatic escalations in Greece as the government has been unable to get the outbreak under control with hundreds of thousands of animals to have been culled since last spring, posing a huge risk onof the extinction of livestock farming in the country and leaving thousands of families without income.
The pox outbreak is spreading uncontrolled, the government keeps promising the desperate farmers to solve the problem and the farmers experience an absolute economic collapse.
The wave of sheep and goat pox is galloping, threatening to wipe out the entire productive fabric.
Breeders in outrage
In a meeting with farmers in Viotia on Tuesday, Minister of Rural Development and Food, Costas Tsiaras, stressed the need for strict adherence to the measures that have been announced. “We have no room for not cooperating and not adhering to the biosecurity measures. We want the cooperation of all the bodies involved,” he commented.
But the farmers in outrage had prepared a “warm welcome” to the minister.
Video: A farmer on his tractor and a banner reading “Bring back the stolen money!” breaks the police chain aiming to protect the minister.
Λειβαδιά: Αγρότης έσπασε με το τρακτέρ τον κλοιό των ΜΑΤ που είχε μπει ασπίδα στον Τσιάρα.
Μπούκαρε με το τρακτέρ κ ταμπέλα «Φέρτε πίσω τα κλεμμένα» pic.twitter.com/5AdA6uAOW2
— Πεν Νταλαούρα (@ntalaoura) October 7, 2025
They were very angry and they tried a few times to reach with their tractors the Administration Building in Livadeia, where Tsiaras has scheduled the meeting.
The situation defused when minister agreed to meet with a farmers’ delegation.
However, today, police officers arrested the vice president of the Livadia Agricultural Association,Loukas Voulgaris, while he was live with a radio interview briefing the community about the results of the meeting yesterday.
🔵Λειβαδιά: Ηχητικό ντοκουμέντο από τη στιγμή της σύλληψης αγρότη μετά από συνέντευξη σε ραδιοφωνικό σταθμό
Δείτε καθημερινά στις 10:00 το #ActionTora με τους@grigoriadis_gio και @dorakoi1 στο #Action24. pic.twitter.com/2RpK7DzyhO
— Action24 (@action24tv) October 8, 2025
The reasons for the arrest are not clear yet, but according to his colleagues, who are already gathering outside the Viotia Regional Court, it is related to the incidents that occurred between farmers and police yesterday Tuesday, a few meters from the hall where the Local Development Plan was to be presented. Meanwhile, Voulgaris set been set free, however, a case file against him has been filed.
Worth noting, that the government has repeatedly rejected the vaccination of sheep and goats against the pox under the pretext that if done so, Greece will not be able to sell and export feta cheese.
Slowly but gradually, the conservative government is losing one of its most loyal voters, the farmers and the livestock breeders. On one hand, the smallpox, on the other hand, the freezing of subsidies due to OPEKEPE scandal have created a very explosive atmosphere.
Farmers and breeders have reacted very angrily to ministry visitors also in Serres and Drama a few days ago.
The agricultural sector is the only part of the Greek economy that actually works, other than the pointless and damaging tourism sector. I feel confident in saying that turtles would do a better, and faster, job than the current collection of idiots in government.
It’s terrible that flocks have to be culled and I can understand the devastating economic and psychological impacts, however there is more to this issue than your article acknowledges. According to veterinarians – not just the government, In the current as well as previous sheep pox outbreaks, more than a few livestock owners flouted the biosecurity measures and moved their sheep around anyway which increased the infection rates since sheep pox is highly contagious. This was documented in various regions. Other bio security measures such as sterilizing trucks carrying milk to prevent contagion between farms aren’t being followed which further increased infection rates, and finally, it was reported this week that some farmers are buying vaccines online which are banned in the EU because they’re not safe and veterinarians said that it’s now impossible to tell which strains are from the virus and which are from the vaccine. I know very well that the Greek government has mismanaged this outbreak but the risks to export feta are real, and could lead to bans in key markets in Australia, the U.S. and UK. I don’t see Greek farmers being responsible and following the prevention measures because there’s a willful ignorance about safety generally in Greece, across all industries and in this Greece is way behind other developed countries. Greek farmers have also benefitted from EU subsidies for decades so they have always been in a privileged position but unlike other EU farmers for example in Ireland or
Northern Europe, they haven’t used the grants and subsidies to modernise, use sustainable practices or even follow the EU bans on prohibited pesticides. On several trips around Greece people told me too many took grants and spent it on building or renovating their houses or on expensive 4WD vehicles. The recent scandal is not isolated it’s part of a culture. They just do things as they always have and expect to be bailed out even when there’s a serious outbreak and they don’t follow the measures and still feel they are victims only, there is no culture or understanding of taking responsibility. It’s not all of them, of course but a very large minority if not majority. It is quite likely that if the biosecurity measures had been followed the sheep pox outbreak could have been contained with minimal culls. Instead, it keeps coming back and spreading over wide geographical regions and all they can say is that the government is to blame. The EU vaccine issue is an ongoing debate and both sides have a valid argument but the biosecurity measures have to be followed anyway and unless the farmers’ mentality changes, u don’t see that happening.