A “huge misunderstanding” regarding the Commission’s letter on agricultural subsidies was raised on Friday morning by the Minister of Rural Development, Kostas Tsiaras, who urged farmers not to conceal cases of smallpox in sheep.

“Obviously, we are hearing things that have nothing to do with the process we have followed so far, to consolidate OPEKEPE, on the one hand, and to meet the requirements set by the European Commission, on the other hand, so that there are no fines for any reason whatsoever. The deadline expired on September 11, and we got a six-month extension because the political decision to transfer the integration of OPEKEPE to AADE has been made, and the European Commission must monitor all these steps,” Mr. Tsiaras initially told ERT about the letter from the Commission.

On the occasion of a meeting held at theMinistry of Rural Development to address the pox outbreaks in pigs and sheep, Mr. Tsiaras stressed that the equation must be added to the same farmers, “who on the one hand must adhere to biosecurity measures, but on the other hand must know that when there is a case should not hide it, but instead should immediately present it and announce it.”

He also cited information that in a large number of livestock farms where outbreaks were reported and veterinarians from the IACs visited to investigate, there were already dead animals.

Asked about preventive vaccination, the Minister of Rural Development said that “if there is an approved vaccine or country that has used it or tequemriasis for a number of doses and immunity, and even if the Association of Greek Cattle Breeders has data on scientific documentation, it should bear it and take responsibility. Because if, as they say, immunity is achieved at 60% and there is no way to distinguish whether an animal that has antibodies is because of the vaccine or is a deterioration, you realize that we are entering a very difficult process. It is this that potentially creates the possibility of so-called regional exclusions.”

Finally, speaking about the OPEKEPE, he said that the government has taken its due responsibility, saying: “I will not tire of repeating that the OPEKEPE is a long-standing, bipartisan, long-standing pathogen of many different governments of the past. We were faced with our bad selves. The government, the New Democracy, has taken its share of responsibility. For a long period of time, we have been making a huge struggle, a huge effort to clean up OPEKEPE, to take steps towards transparency and justice. After all, this is also dictated by the government’s overall decision to bring an authority that has admittedly operated under the rules of transparency, high standards, cross-checks, and controls under the authority of the AADE.