Divisions emerge among farmers as they escalate their protest actions

Representatives from the 66 farmer road blocks across Greece attended the meeting held in Sindos, Thessaloniki on Tuesday, in order to discuss their future actions and demands.

Disagreements however emerged, splitting the farmers, with the block from Tempi leaving the meeting and refusing to recognize the process. Panagiotis Kalogiannis told the Athens-Macedonia News Agency that his block did not participate in the final decisions and as such does not recognize them, however he stressed that the entire sector must remain united to face the major problem at hand.

The remaining blocks decided to escalate their actions and refuse to meet with the Prime Minister and political leaders unless the tax and pension system reform proposals are withdrawn.

As such, the farmers will cut off access on the road blocks between 12:00-14:00 and then again between 18:00-21:00 and have arranged a rally at 3pm on Thursday in Thessaloniki. The farmers will also remain in the city until the opening of the Agrotica fair at 7pm by the Minister of Agricultural Development Evangelos Apostolou.

Meanwhile the block from Tempi convened later on and decided to act independently. The Nikea block held a meeting in Larissa with the participation of 37 blocks. There, they decided to escalate their protest actions by cutting off access to roads, ports and customs offices between 12:00 and 18:00. They also considered the possibility of a full black out.

Tension at Promachonas

Clashes broke out at the Promachonas border station between farmers and Bulgarian truck drivers, who became frustrated with the long delays caused by the strike actions. The police was called out to intervene.