Farmers say that unless something changes, the protests will escalate after Friday
The road was closed for a while on the old national road at the height of the Platykampos interchange by the protesting farmers of Larissa with fires in straw and tires, who will continue to close the roads for some part of the day until Friday, at the same time requesting a meeting directly with the Prime Minister Mr. Kyriakos Mitsotakis, as they believe that there is room for the government to satisfy some of their demands.
They emphasize that they want a civilized dialogue and that they are not blackmailing. However, they are escalating their mobilizations and if nothing changes by Friday, the mobilizations will be more dynamic in terms of road closures.
In more detail, Rizos Maroudas (president of the Federation of Agricultural Associations of Larisa), noted: “The government should provide solutions, satisfy our requests which are requests for survival. We will enter into a civilized dialogue with the government to see what requests it can satisfy. We are symbolically closing the roads. This situation here today is the first step of escalation and others will follow with actions on the streets and in the cities and in Athens if necessary. They didn’t let us take the tractors up the highway, but we can do it anytime, but we don’t want to cause an accident. The government must concede that we can protest, it is our inalienable right.”
The agricultural trade unionist Christos Sidiropoulos pointed out: “We proved that we are united. We are waiting for the Prime Minister’s message where in an hour the request to hold the meeting will be in his office. The road will be open, we will not extort anyone. From Friday onwards, the scene will change. Now the prime minister is responsible to give a message for a meeting to finish, we think there are answers. Not all requests are financial, they also concern quality and controls and how we will produce to be sustainable”.
Also the agricultural trade unionist Yiannis Koutsoukis, underlined: “We thank the farmers who stand by the wounded Thessaly. We have been on the road since December 13th. There is common ground with the government, there are things they can still give. They should do it immediately, because the responsibility of the escalation does not belong to the farmers but to the government itself”.
Source: onlarissa.gr
Source: Skai
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