(ANSA-AFP) - ATHENS, FEB 20 - Hundreds of Greek farmers were
heading to Athens on Tuesday to demand financial aid after the
government consented to an orderly protest in the capital.
Convoys of dozens of tractors escorted by traffic police were en
route to the capital for the evening protest, TV footage showed.
Additional farmers were travelling in by coach from agricultural
areas such as the island of Crete. Prime Minister Kyriakos
Mitsotakis, who last week met protest leaders and made numerous
concessions, on Monday called on the farmers to cause "as little
disruption as possible". "I fully understand why our farmers
want to hold a symbolic demonstration in the centre of Athens,
coordinating with what has happened in all other European
capitals," the conservative prime minister told Star TV. But he
stressed that the government had "nothing more to give". The
farmers began protesting last month, joining a wider movement
that has seen tractors deployed to block roads or slow traffic
in France, Germany, Italy, Poland and Spain, among other
countries. (ANSA-AFP).
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED © Copyright ANSA
