Clashes have broken out between protesting farmers and police near the city of Heraklion on the Greek island of Crete after law enforcement tried to prevent the protesters from reaching the city's airport, Sky TV reported, quoted by BTA.
According to the information, the police used chemical agents. The farmers reached a distance of about 150 meters from the airport, where they encountered barriers that they overcame with their tractors. However, their march was then stopped by a police blockade.
The protesting farmers also took similar actions at the airport in the other major city on Crete, Chania.
The farmers managed to establish a symbolic blockade at the airport in Ioannina, northwestern Greece, yesterday, but their attempt to block the airport in Thessaloniki on Friday was prevented by police intervention.
Greek farmers began protest actions with road blockades a week ago. The main reason for their dissatisfaction is the delay in the payment of agricultural subsidies due to the corruption scandal in the OPECEPE payment agency.
The Prime Minister of Greece Kyriakos Mitsotakis called on the protesting Greek farmers to reduce their blockades on the country's roads and confirmed that significant payments will be made by the end of December and additional support will be provided to farmers, the online edition of the newspaper “Kathimerini“ reported.
During his participation in a health-related conference in Athens, Prime Minister Mitsotakis assured that the government led by him remains ready for dialogue with the protesters, but it must be held “with open roads“. According to the country's prime minister, the protests, accompanied by the closure of roads, border crossings and other objects of the transport infrastructure of Greece, carry the risk of turning the public against the farmers, even if their demands are fair.
Greek farmers have been organizing road blockades across Greece for a week now in protest against an estimated shortfall of about 600 million euros in EU subsidies and other payments, which remain frozen due to an investigation into corruption in the distribution of agricultural aid, the publication recalls.
Mitsotakis called on the farmers to send a representation that would formulate clear demands in dialogue with the government. He acknowledged the delays in the payment of subsidies, but said that “significant payments will be made by the end of December“.
The Greek prime minister also stressed that all measures must be in accordance with EU rules.