Vólos (Greece) (AFP) – Greece’s government held emergency meetings Wednesday to address a growing farm protest movement, as demonstrators temporarily blocked the central port of Volos. Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis called a meeting on EU subsidy payments demanded by farmers, his office said. The agriculture minister was to brief government lawmakers later as the protest stretched into a second week.
After farmers on Crete blocked the island’s two main airports for hours on Monday, growers on Wednesday shut down the port of Volos for a few hours, backed by fishermen who stationed their boats at the entrance to the harbour. Volos, one of Greece’s main ports, is a key gateway into Thessaly, the country’s agricultural heartland. State TV ERT said that over a hundred trucks loaded with wheat bound for Tunisia were scheduled to leave Wednesday. The Thessaly region is still struggling to recover from the widespread destruction of livestock and infrastructure wrought by Storm Daniel in 2023.
“We are not backing down,” 37-year-old wheat grower Dimitris Loufopoulos told AFP during the protest. “It’s a question of whether we can keep on producing quality (foodstuffs), whether we can survive in a respectable manner,” he added. “This goes beyond Greece, it’s a European issue.” Livestock grower Nikolas Vasileiou said the government money was not enough to keep his herd alive. “We want help so we can keep our flocks,” he said. “Normally, we should change profession if we want to be able to support our families.”
The conservative government of Kyriakos Mitsotakis has for months struggled to address a farm subsidy scandal investigated by EU authorities, which has resulted in payment delays to tens of thousands of growers. The government has promised to allocate additional funds to legitimate farmers, who are under additional pressure this year owing to low prices for their produce, higher energy costs, and a disastrous sheep pox epidemic.
In May, EU prosecutors alleged that thousands of suspects — many of them not farmers — had for years made claims for land they did not own, and exaggerated livestock numbers. Greek officials say more than 30 million euros ($35 million) of false claims were made. The practice is believed to have been going on at least since 2018, costing genuine farmers 70 million euros annually. The government claims the farmer’s movement is fragmented and has urged union leaders to come up with joint demands and send their delegates to talks.
© 2024 AFP
