Thessaloniki farmers plan tractor ‘invasion’ at White Tower during TIF opening

The agricultural sector is preparing to bring its protest from Greece’s countryside into the center of Thessaloniki. At least 20 tractors are expected to line up at the White Tower on September 5, the day the 90th Thessaloniki International Fair opens.

Thousands of farmers, livestock breeders, beekeepers and fishers are expected to join the demonstration. Dozens of chartered buses will carry producers from across the country, from Evros and western Greece to Crete.

The mobilization follows the farmers’ prolonged road blockades during the winter. Representatives of the Panhellenic Committee of the Blockades say their meeting with Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis at the Maximos Mansion produced no substantial solutions to the sector’s most pressing problems. They point to high production costs and major delays in subsidy payments.

Livestock producers are also facing the spread of sheep and goat pox and foot-and-mouth disease. The outbreaks have so far been addressed through the slaughter of thousands of animals, leaving hundreds of producers without income and with devastated herds.

The protest comes during an active pre-election period, as government officials tour northern Greece and try to calm opposition while managing pressure over timely payments. Organizers see the tractors appearing on the day of Mitsotakis’ speech as a powerful symbol of the anxiety facing the wider productive sector.

Under a plan coordinated with police, the first 20 tractors are due to leave the Malgara blockade at 2 p.m. and reach the White Tower at 3 p.m. Buses carrying protesters are scheduled to arrive between 3 p.m. and 5 p.m., with the farmers’ rally officially beginning at 5 p.m. Organizers are also considering a mass march to the I. Vellidis Conference Center. Heavy police deployment is expected because unions, organizations and labor groups will hold parallel demonstrations nearby.

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The meeting with the prime minister did not provide substantial solutions to the sector’s acute problems.