The government is awaiting the farmers’ next move after the meeting with Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and the additional benefits he announced to them. Leaving the Maximos Palace, their representatives, however, did not seem satisfied with what they took with the decisions on the future of the mobilizations now being referred to the assemblies across Greece.

The meeting of the prime minister with the representatives of the farmers took place in a good atmosphere. There was an understanding of the data on the part of the farmers, it was understood that the room for negotiation was essentially exhausted and the package of measures is the final one, commented government sources.

The government emphasizes that it is open to dialogue on the institutional issues of producers and agricultural oil, but warns that closing roads and obstructing traffic will not be accepted and will be dealt with.

A new meeting of Mr. Mitsotakis with the farmers is not expected, who nevertheless managed to secure an appointment towards the end of the month or at the beginning of the next for the issues of Thessaly and the disasters caused by the bad weather Daniel. In this, the prime minister is expected to have a meeting with institutional and productive bodies of Thessaly in order to deal with the problems.

The farmers will determine their stance after the general assemblies to be held in the blocks.

Thessaly

Thessaly farmers are expected to make their final decisions on Wednesday. But it seems that they will remain at the blockades and escalate their mobilizations. The scenario of the descent into Athens on Monday, with or without a tractor, is also on the table. They state that they are only satisfied with part of the government’s measures concerning electricity, as well as with the new meeting planned for Daniel.

Macedonia

The Macedonian farmers, for their part, say they are dissatisfied with the Prime Minister’s measures. After the assembly in Nea Malgara that ended on Tuesday afternoon, the decision is to escalate the mobilizations and to set up a body at the level of Macedonia that will meet to decide on blockades everywhere. The first block after the meeting with Mr. Mitsotakis is marked at the customs station of Evzones from 8 to 9 in the evening only for trucks.

Peloponnese – Western Greece

It seems that the farmers in the Peloponnese and Western Greece will move along the same wavelength. The farmers of Aegio are expected to close the new National Road again. They decided to escalate the mobilizations with longer road blocks and especially national highways. The proposal that will leave Aigio to the rest of the blocs is the continuation of the mobilizations in a more dynamic way. A similar climate for escalating the mobilizations prevails in the ongoing assemblies in Agrinio and Pyrgos. The proposal that will reach the Panhellenic Committee of the blocs is to go to Athens.

Government measures

The package of measures to support farmers announced by Kyriakos Mitsotakis during his meeting with the fifteen-member committee of the blocs and the National Union of Agricultural Cooperatives will be applied horizontally and concerns all farmers.

The government’s initiatives include cheap rural electricity for a decade, with the price of a kilowatt hour set at under ten cents, and a decade-long zero-interest debt settlement. The implementation of the measure will start from April 1.

For agricultural oil, the prime minister promised farmers an advance payment of 50% of the refund of the Excise Duty by the end of March, while he pledged to open the dialogue for a fairer way of refunding the Excise Duty from 2025.

“I believe that we can have a common place that will take into account your concerns but will take into account that on the one hand the country’s fiscal margins are given (…) many sectors many social groups always have requests and expectations from the government and every decision of the government it must see the whole and take into account the dimension of social justice,” Mr. Mitsotakis emphasized.

The representatives of the farmers, although they admitted that there was a fruitful and meaningful dialogue in Maximos, made it clear that the decisions will be made in the blocks. Shots against the government for the measures announced by the prime minister are unleashed by the opposition parties.