2026 finds the Greek farmers' struggle moving one step forward from where they had stopped at the beginning of the Christmas festive period, as the Greek government remains unwilling to respond to their submitted demands.
© Fotis Karabetsos | FreshPlaza.com
First of all, tomorrow will be the last day before tractors move again to their initial blockade points on the highways, as farmers have been keeping them withdrawn to the side lanes in order to facilitate traffic during the festive period. During these days, some new blockades were also established in additional areas.
However, the farmers' bold first move for 2026 will be to completely block all the key highways, along with many of their bypasses, as well as all customs points for 48 hours, starting on Thursday. It is a substantial escalation step, considering that such nationwide, time-coordinated militant acts had been realized up to now only once and just for three hours on December 19th. The move was decided on Sunday at the last nationwide assembly of farmers in Malgara. It was the largest of the three assemblies held during the 37 days of their struggle, with all representatives calling for an escalation of the struggle.
© Fotis Karabetsos | FreshPlaza.com
From what is known so far, the highways that will be completely blocked on Thursday and Friday are Egnatia, Ionia, and PATHE. Specifically, the blockades on these highways will be at Siatista (blocking traffic between Igoumenitsa port and the Evros region), the Rio-Antirrio Bridge, and Nikaia, respectively. More such completely blocked points are expected to be Malgara, Tempi, Bralos and Nestani. Mr. Rizos Maroudas, a fruit grower from Larissa and one the leading representative of the farmers' blockades, said: "Essentially, we are talking about a national blockade and encircling Athens, in order to exercise pressure on the government to provide solutions, answers to our demands, and to open the path for a meeting."
"The government has to think seriously and provide solutions, as it has fiscal margin and a surplus of billions," he said to the Greek media after the assembly, making reference to the official data announced for the execution of the state budget for 2025, which rendered 5 billion euros of surplus more than originally planned. "What the government lacks is political will," Mr. Maroudas stressed emphatically.
© Fotis Karabetsos | FreshPlaza.com
Finally, a new element of the Greek farmers' struggle, as expressed in the recent assembly, is the strong rejection of the EU-Mercosur agreement, while farmers do not reject the possibility of organizing a massive tractor protest from across the country in Athens. The Greek government is holding a meeting today to determine its stance amid the new circumstances of the agricultural protests.
