By Penelope Galliou

The government maintains a wait-and-see attitude towards the farmers, continuing to keep a low profile and re-placing the demands of the farming world on the one hand and the country’s fiscal potential as well as the support that has already been provided.

The “red lines” have already been formulated by the prime minister himself, who once again invited the farmers to dialogue, but under the strict condition of open roads. “We are always open to dialogue, but let me say it again: Open dialogue with open roadsbecause no one can blackmail the society as a whole no matter how fair their request is and disrupt the social and economic life of the place” he clarified.

The government’s will is clear to examine all the demands not only of the farmers but of every social group that claims, however everything is examined under the condition that the course of the economic situation of the country is not put in jeopardy, but also the safeguarding of absolute freedom of travel, transport, as government officials comment, repeating his message Kyriakou Mitsotakis that “in such an environment we can obviously discuss”.

For now, however, the government is not expected to take further steps to reach out to the farmers and it seems that it is planning its next moves. In this context, the meeting today at 11.30 am of the prime minister with the regional governors at Megaros Maximos. A meeting in which alliances will be sought as well as the assistance of regional governors in defusing the crisis with the farmers. Of course, the interest is focused on the regional governor of Thessaly, Dimitris Kouretas, who stands supportively on the side of the farmers, judging their mobilizations to be fair.

He also estimates that Thessaly, after the catastrophic floods from the bad weather Daniel, is experiencing the “greatest humanitarian crisis since the Second World War” as he recently stated, attending the rally of farmers and breeders in his region.

In any case, the climate that will arise during the meeting with the regional governors, but also their possible contribution that will follow in the approach with the farmers, will also determine the next steps of both sides.

Given also that government sources have hinted several times in recent days that everything is being considered and everything is being studied, without being rejected out of hand. “Farmers put their issues, the government is currently examining them and we will come back. There are things that they themselves know are not implementable, but we are having a dialogue” commented a government official.

Second condition, however, for the implementation of a meeting requested by the farmers with prime minister – which he himself did not rule out – and a meaningful dialogue with him, is the existence of a single institutional body representing the farmers against the multiple separate blocs whose demands vary.

The meeting scheduled next Thursday between all involved ministers with the TOEB and GOEB of Thessaly for the establishment of the Unified Water Management Agency in Larissa is also considered important.

An issue which is also a “thorn” in the relations between the government and the regional governor of Thessaly, with Dimitris Kouretas complaining that attempts are being made to stay out of it of the Unified Water Management Agency (EFDY) the region, while other Thessalian organizations have also raised objections because, as they claim, the landscape has not been clarified what the role of the TOEBs will be in terms of irrigation.