Greek farmers leave Athens after tractor protest over rising costs

Greek farmers drove their tractors out of central Athens on Wednesday after spending the night in front of parliament to protest against rising fuel and production costs.

At least 8,000 farmers, beekeepers and livestock breeders joined the protest on Syntagma Square on Tuesday, echoing grievances at similar demonstrations across Europe, where farmers say they face higher costs and taxes, red tape, excessive environmental rules and competition from cheap imports.

Many Greek farmers spent the night on the square before driving out on Wednesday.

“We made the move and now we are waiting for the result,” said farmer Konstantinos Kyriakopoulos, 34, from the southern Greek region of Messinia.

The farmers also say they have been hurt by climate change, with unpredictable flooding, extreme heat and wildfires making their work ever more hazardous.

They have briefly blockaded roads and border crossings for weeks while their unions have negotiated with Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis’ conservative government for financial relief.

The government has so far offered discounts on power bills and an extension of a tax rebate for agricultural diesel to the end of 2024. It has also said it is willing to discuss a more permanent tax rebate scheme, but that there is no chance of further concessions this year.

Farmers have vowed to push for more and were expected to decide later this week on their next moves.

“Our decision is to leave Athens now and we will decide by tomorrow our further steps,” Rizos Maroudas, head of the farmers union in the agricultural city of Larissa of central Greece told Reuters.

While some local grievances vary, farmers’ protests have exposed tensions over the impact on farming of the EU’s drive to tackle climate change, as well of opening the door to cheap Ukrainian imports to help Kyiv’s war effort.

Farmers outside Europe are also protesting. In India, police fired tear gas on Wednesday to scatter thousands of farmers as they sought to resume a march to Delhi after rejecting a government offer on prices for their produce.
Source: Reuters (Reporting by Louisa Gouliamaki, Stamos Prousalis and Lefteris Papadimas; Writing by Angeliki Koutantou; Editing by Nick Macfie, Alexandra Hudson)