The roadblocks of Promachonas are back…

By Panagiotis Savidis

«On January 17 we are closing Promachonas down with our tractors» the farmers of Serres said to protothema.gr, disappointed by the ministry of Rural Development, a year after the long blockade at the Greco-Bulgarian border, which ended with the intervention of Bulgarian PM Boyko Borisov.

The farmers – members of the six Uncommitted Rural Associations of Serres County, are considered the "Mujahideen" of rural unrest in the country.

Last February, over 900 farmers from Serres made the decision to continue the blockade of the border station in Promachonas, even though their colleagues in other areas had returned home.

«We were justified in wanting the struggle to continue. Once more promises remained promises by the ministry of Rural Development. Let this be a lesson to those who wanted to stop the blockades then» said the president of EAS Visaltias, Pavlos Arampatzis, to protothema.gr, warning about a new «blockade without an expiry date» at the Greco-Bulgarian border.

Members of the association maintain that out of all the 2010 demands, only one was met by the ministry - that of the reinstatement of the 11% VAT tax, up from 7%.

«We are talking about being mocked here. They are making fun of us and they want us to say thank you. This time we will go to Promachonas and stay there until Easter» says Stergios Litos, president of the Uncommitted Rural Association of Visaltia, adding that what they are mainly asking for is the meeting of institutional demands by the ministry.

«We believe that this time the minister will come to meet us for a solution because the situation has reached a dead end. There is no more. Either they attend to our demands with the due interest or we should realize it and immigrate» says Giorgos Kasapoglou, president of the Alistratis Association.   

The multi-day blockade last January and February at Promachonas, became a headache for the Greek government and led to diplomatic overtures from Bulgaria, which cited financial damages and led to the visit of PM Boyko Borisov to Promachonas to meet the farmers.

«Mr Borisov was interested. I told him that today we are the ones with problems, but tomorrow it might be the Bulgarians» Kasapoglou said, after a personal talk with the Bulgarian PM.  

Last Wednesday, the presidents of the Uncommitted Rural Associations of Serres, met with Serres vice prefect, Giannis Moisiadis, asking for the support of the prefect of Macedonia, Panagiotis Psomiadis, for their protests.

«We will try to find the golden mean so that farmers can express their struggle through their protests, but without the population suffering, " Moisiadis said.
 
The demands:

    * An end to the quarantine of Serres county due to the ground worm that prevents the cultivation of corn. This costs Serrean farmers 15 to 20m euros.
    * The ministry must provide answers as to what will happen with the cotton and the green worm, and their savings due to the disasters, as well as the tobacco worm.
    * Agricultural petrol for farmers at a stable price, since the vast majority of farmers are using agricultural petrol for their crops, similarly to foreign countries.
    * The payment of the 50% royalty to tobacco producers, which was cut and would initially have been granted by means of various programs etc.
    * The farmers’ wives should be able to become new farmers.
    * Broader categories of diseases covered by ELGA (mildew etc.)