Greek Farmers Protests at Bulgarian Border Escalate

Hundreds of trucks wait in line to pass the Promahon border station in Greece to Bulgaria on 29 January 2009 as Greek farmers blocked the border with their tractors protesting the government's farm policy. Photo by EPA/BGNES

Protesting Greek farmers have started to block the Bulgarian border for ten days from Monday as they rally against unpaid subsidies and low prices for their production.

The Greek farmers lifted the blockade at the Ilinden-Eksohi border crossing point on the Bulgaria-Greece border late Friday but are now protesting at Ilinden-Eksohi and the Kulata-Promahon border crossing from Monday. Neither cars or trucks will be allowed to cross the border at Kulata, with only cars allowed to cross at the Gotse Delchev crossing.

The farmer protests also figured high in Bulgarian news headlines, after the Bulgarian transport and interior ministries warned Bulgarians to avoid travelling by road to Greece for the next 10 days in case border crossings between the two countries were closed during farmer protests.

Among those visiting the blockades were Greek MPs like former agriculture minister Sotiris Hatzigakis and current Citizens' Protection Minister Mihalis Chrysohoidis, who spoke with farmers at length about production costs and the gap in the price paid to farmers for their produce and that paid by consumers, Athens News Agency reported.

The minister has promised measures that would benefit markets and consumers.

Deputy Finance Minister Philippos Sahinidis has stressed during a visit to the farmer blockade in Alamana that the critical state of the economy left no room for any further cash support.

The farmers fired back by6 by saying that this was money that was "theirs" and should have been paid to them. According to them the numbers cited as agricultural benefits in the media were inflated and that such sums had never reached them.

At the end of January last year Greek farmers protesting against unpaid EU subsidies and falling commodity prices, invaded with their tractors Bulgaria's territory close to the Kulata border crossing point. The blockade escalated and on January 23 all three crossing points at the Bulgaria-Greece border were closed.

The protests triggered huge, kilometer-long lines and difficulties for commercial truck drivers and travelers. The Kulata-Promahon crossing point did not reopen until the end of the first week in February.

We need your support so Novinite.com can keep delivering news and information about Bulgaria! Thank you!