Farmers block highways across Greece in protest over rising costs, EU trade deal

Key Highlights

• But the country’s conservative government has warned that it would not tolerate more extended blockades.
• The country’s main highway connecting Athens to the northern city of Thessaloniki was shut in both directions at several points, as farmers demanded stronger state support and the rejection of the EU-Mercosur agreement.
• “We’ve reached a breaking point,” Yiannis Baritas, a cabbage farmer and father of five, said at a roadblock in southern Greece.
• “We’ll stay here as long as it takes to support our families.
• They’ve pushed us to desperation.” The protests, which began in November, initially centred on rising production costs, worsened by a series of crises: a subsidy fraud scandal delaying legitimate payments, and a sheep and goat pox outbreak.