ATHENS, Feb 13 (Reuters) - Greek farmers drove dozens of tractors into central Athens on Friday to protest over rising production costs and tough competition from abroad, saying that what the government had offered them so far was not enough to stay afloat.
People lined up and applauded as tractors arrived in front of the parliament building. The farmers said they would stay overnight.
Stavros Kozoutzis, a farmer from Komotini, in the north of the country, said: "Unfortunately, the summer cultivation period is about to begin, and we do not have the money to plant this year’s crops."
Last month, the farmers ended weeks of nationwide blockades over delayed farm aid payments. The Greek government says it has disbursed much of the overdue payments and announced cheaper fuel and cover for future output losses.
But the head of the farmers' union in the central agricultural region of Larissa said on Friday that many farmers had not yet received full compensation for last year's crop and livestock losses, while guaranteed minimum prices for their products and investment in irrigation and infrastructure against future floods were core demands the government has not met.
"We are giving a battle for our survival. We left the blockades... but our fight continues as our main demands have not been satisfied," Rizos Maroudas told public broadcaster ERT, hours before farmers reached Athens.
The sector has also been hit by rolling outbreaks of sheep and goat pox with hundreds of thousands of animals being culled since 2024.
Footage from local television showed veterinarians dressed in yellow uniforms spraying tractors with disinfectants before they reached the Greek capital.
(Reporting by Angeliki Koutantou; Editing by Alex Richardson)
