Protesting farmers in Greece decided to join the negotiating table with the government. Credit: Dimitris Stravou, AMNA
Protesting farmers in Greece have accepted an invitation to meet with Prime Minister Mitsotakis and government officials on Tuesday afternoon to discuss possible resolutions to their requests.
After a month and a half of roadblocks that have disrupted trade, transport, and holiday travel across the country, the greater part of the national highway network in Greece was opened to traffic on Saturday as protesters removed their tractors and farm machinery from the tarmac in anticipation of Tuesday’s meeting.
However, the vehicles remain parked on the roadsides, awaiting the results of the negotiations on Tuesday and the briefings on Wednesday by the local farmers’ committees.
Protesting farmers’ rally in Athens postponed
Representatives of protesting farmers concluded their meeting at the Nikea roadblock of Larissa on Saturday, deciding that they would meet with the prime minister as scheduled on Tuesday afternoon, January 13.
The Panhellenic Committee decided against holding a rally in Athens on Tuesday, as such an action would not benefit their struggle.
The government is looking for the golden mean with farmers, Deputy Minister to the Prime Minister and government spokesperson Pavlos Marinakis said in an interview to newspaper Real News published on Sunday.
Marinakis stressed that the government has sought dialog with farmers from the start, but cannot stretch the limits of the economy more nor hold talks while citizens are put through trouble because of the roadblocks.
“There is no margin for further measures, and this is not simply a figure of speech,” he pointed out.
“It is a fact – because on one hand, we have exhausted all options according to the European Union’s cap on expenditures, and on the other because as a government of all Greeks, just as we take care of the farmer who wants, for example, cheaper electricity, we must take care of the restaurateur, the baker, the small-and-medium-size businessperson who wants exactly the same. We are not looking for winners and losers in a public conflict. We are looking for the golden mean that will allow the farmer to produce with dignity, without however having the rest of the population feeling they are paying the bill.”