The farmers are moving toward a further escalation of their mobilizations, having decided not to attend Monday’s meeting with Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, as emerged from the nationwide meeting of representatives of 57 roadblocks that took place on Saturday (13/12).

According to the decision that was taken, the farmers make it clear that they will not take part in any dialogue unless they first receive clear answers to their demands.

At the same time, they are preparing to submit their list of demands to the government, something that according to information they will do tomorrow morning. The list of demands is being “cleaned up” and, according to reports, so far it includes the following:

• Statute of limitations / dismissal of prosecutions by Parliament
• Payment of the money owed
• Minimum guaranteed prices
• Electricity at 7 cents
• Tax-free diesel at the pump
• Cleanup/restructuring of OPEKEPE
• Distribution of the money stolen from OPEKEPE to the real beneficiaries
• The names should be made public
• A special branch should be established for fishermen and beekeepers

Particular emphasis is placed on the problems faced by livestock farmers, who are confronting a serious issue due to sheep pox, submitting the following demands to address the situation:

• Vaccination
• Full compensation
• Replacement of lost income
• Free reconstitution of livestock herds

From the government’s side, it is estimated that a meeting with the farmers on Monday will not take place, despite its insistence on the message of dialogue. A first response is expected from Kyriakos Mitsotakis tomorrow, in his regular Sunday Facebook post, while government spokesperson Pavlos Marinakis reiterated the government’s call for dialogue—but not with closed roads—warning of legal consequences in the event of new blockades.

Speaking to journalists late in the afternoon about the farmers’ decisions, the president of the United Federation of Agricultural Associations of Larissa, Rizos Maroudas, said that the farmers will not attend Monday’s meeting because the dialogue is merely a pretext and they do not want to hear just words of sympathy.

He stressed that the farmers are escalating their mobilizations, remaining at the roadblocks, and will wait for the government’s responses to their list of demands. “We will win; we have the strength to see some of our demands satisfied,” he said, noting that on Wednesday and Friday there will also be symbolic blockades of bypass roads.

The other farmer union leaders spoke along the same lines, referring to an escalation of mobilizations starting Tuesday if the government does not respond to their demands.

Two representatives of farmers from Crete also participated in the meeting in Nikaia. They argued that their colleagues who took part yesterday in the meeting with the Deputy Prime Minister, Kostis Hatzidakis, in Athens undermined their struggle. “We are escalating,” they emphasized as well.