In Athens, thousands of farmers make their anger heard at the foot of Parliament
More than 200 tractors from all over Greece parked this Tuesday, February 20 in front of the Parliament in Athens where 8,000 farmers, according to the police, chanted their discontent.
The farmers intended to spend the night in front of Parliament, Syntagma Square, before leaving the premises this Wednesday noon. Athens, February 20, 2024. AP - Thanassis Stavrakis
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Syntagma Square, in the heart of Athens, the smells of grilling could evoke a simple country barbecue. However, the tractors and farmers gathered here want to remind people that without them, there is no food at all. “
Without agricultural production, there is no future in
Greece
”, we can read on a huge banner, while signs on tractors proclaim in particular: “
We suck the blood of farmers
”.
More than 200 tractors and several thousand farmers from mainland Greece and Crete (south) gathered this Tuesday at the end of the day in front of the Greek Parliament. They must spend the night there before leaving the places Wednesday noon. The center of Athens, with its heavy car traffic, was partly closed off to traffic.
Like
their European colleagues
, they intend to protest against their economic difficulties, linked in particular to the rise in energy prices, to international competition, but also to the consequences of the floods which hit the country in September. Greek farmers have been increasing blockages since January and last week, negotiations with the government failed to lead to an agreement.
“
Coming to Athens is the only solution for us to show our determination,”
explains Thanassis Prasas, representative of the farmers of Thessaly, to our correspondent in Athens,
Joël Bronner
. His region, where pistachios, almonds, walnuts, but also cotton and corn are grown, has been devastated by recent floods.
We want all of Greece and all of Europe to know that we have been blocking the roads for four weeks now. We have come here because our problem is enormous. We see clearly what is happening between our fields and the supermarket shelves. What we see is that we sell our products below their value and then they are resold for ten to twelve times more.
»
The farmers present are unanimous: the main problem at the moment is the price of energy. They therefore ask that it be zero-rated. “
On gasoline, the tax is around 50%. We benefit from a small refund on it, but what we want is no taxes at all
,” continues Thanassis Prasas.
After paying them between 2,000 euros and 4,000 euros last year, the government has promised additional aid of 5,000 to 10,000 euros this year. He also proposed reducing farmers' energy bills over the next ten years and reducing VAT on fertilizers and animal feed from 13% to 6%.
(
And with
AFP)
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