Blockades hold firm – Christmas on the asphalt looms
Greek farmers refuse to move. Hundreds of tractors already split the country in two and protesters swear they will stay on the national highways – even through Christmas – until the government delivers concrete solutions. The first subsidy payments have begun, but the people remain furious.
Government draws red line: “No road can close”
Government spokesman Pavlos Marinakis issued a blunt warning: “No one can shut any road, no matter how legitimate the demand. Roads belong to every citizen who pays taxes and tolls.” He stressed the law will apply without exceptions and defended police actions at clashes: “Images that dishonour everyone. You cannot shake vehicles. Police have no wish to attack, but if provoked they will intervene – otherwise we have chaos.”
€1.2 billion pledged, record support claimed
Marinakis highlighted that farmers will receive €1.2 billion before 2025 begins and no EU funds will be lost. “We are the government that has responded more than any other,” he said, listing cheaper agricultural electricity, VAT cuts, income-tax reductions and extra aid for the sheep/goat pox disaster. “What should other professionals say?”
Ministry door open, roads must stay open
Rural Development Minister Kostas Tsiaras repeated that dialogue is always welcome, yet the official position remains unchanged: highways cannot be blocked.
Eight non-negotiable demands
Protesters stand united behind a clear list:
- Immediate payment of all overdue subsidies and basic direct aid
- Guaranteed prices that cover costs and leave viable income
- Drastic cut in production costs
- Tax-free diesel, electricity capped at 7¢/kWh, abolition of the Energy Exchange, VAT removal on inputs
- 100 % ELGA coverage for production and capital against all risks and diseases
- Full 2025 income compensation for collapsed commodity prices
- Free sheep/goat pox vaccination, 100 % compensation for culled animals, free flock rebuilding, bluetongue aid
- Return of every stolen OPEKEPE euro to rightful owners, no fines on farmers, full prosecution and public naming of the guilty
Larissa erupts in milk, corn and straw
In the city’s central square breeders poured out milk and scattered feed, shouting: “They left us without sheep, without property, on the streets – enough mockery!” Hundreds then marched to reinforce the Nikaia junction blockade.
“The Prime Minister must come to Thessaly”
Farmers warned: “Without livestock there is no primary sector. Shops will close and we will all go hungry together.”
Another declared: “We face extinction. If nothing changes, we came to stay.”
A broken subsidy system reaps what it sowed
Farming is brutal, high-risk work. Subsidies were meant to cushion that risk. Instead, governments turned them into electoral gifts, rewarding connections over cultivation and creating overnight millionaires. The result: grotesque distortions and, finally, the explosive OPEKEPE scandal.
Honest farmers pay for others’ greed
When the fraud blew up, the people who actually work the land – waiting patiently for money they earned – suffered most, while others had plunged every finger into the honey jar. That injustice must never repeat.
The person who tills the soil must receive the subsidy because they deserve it – not because they “know someone”.
Source: CNN Greece
Also read: Tsipras on the Crans-Montana Talks
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