Many Greeks traveling from Athens to Thessaloniki today on the eve of the Christmas holidays were forced to bypass one of the blockades of protesting farmers on dirt roads. This is evident from footage from this morning, included in a report by Sky TV, BTA reported.
The convoy of cars has taken off through the fields in the Livadia region, north of Athens, where both the Athens - Thessaloniki highway and the old main road are closed.
The protesting farmers announced that from today they will leave two lanes free to let citizens traveling for the holidays pass. However, the traffic police are not giving permission for cars to pass through the agricultural blockades. Therefore, in most places, crossings are taking detours.
In the area of the Promakhon border crossing (opposite Kulata) on the border with Bulgaria, the road is open, with farmers assuring that this will remain the case for the next three days.
Today, Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said that the government "will not succumb to blackmail" by farmers protesting over delayed payments of European subsidies and rising production costs, and again called on them to talk.