Greek Farmers Strike Deal with Govt, Unblock Bulgarian Border

The Greek farmers are lifting the blockade of the Bulgarian border after a month of protests. Photo by BGNES

The Greek farmers are going to lift the blockade of the major Bulgaria-Greece border crossing, Kulata-Promahonas, after they reached an agreement with the government.

Representatives of the farmers in the Seres District in Northern Greece have stricken a deal with the Deputy Ministers of Agrarian Development and Economy during a meeting in the Greek city of Thessaloniki, the Bulgarian National Radio reported.

The Greek government has committed to developing a special program on the problems of agriculture in the Seres District.

The farmers expect to have monthly meetings with government representatives and give the cabinet time until November 2010 to realize its promises. If it fails, they plan to resume their protests.

Thus, about a month after they started blockading the crossings on the Bulgarian border with demands for higher agriculture prices, the Greek farmers are opening the major crossing point at Kulata-Promahonas.

The blockades of the other three border crossings between Bulgaria and Greece were lifted earlier as the farmers in the respective Greek districts reached agreements with the government.

The blockage of the Bulgarian-Greek border incurred severe losses to Bulgarian businesses including transport and tourism companies, and manufacturers. According to some estimates the Bulgarian economy was losing about EUR 3 M daily from the border blockade.

The Bulgarian government is claiming EUR 10 M in compensations from Greece because of the blockade.

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