For a continuous dialogue with farmers and livestock farmers, as well as additional support for those livestock farmers “hit” by foot-and-mouth disease, Kyriakos Mitsotakis had committed in mid-January, just before the agricultural mobilizations stopped after a month and a half.
The government’s will is for these promises to be kept and for there to be an open and stable communication channel with representatives of the primary sector, so that the situation does not lead again to roadblocks and road closures. Soon, by the end of February, there will be legislative regulation for agricultural diesel, following the related commitment for non-payment of special consumption tax at the pump.
Livestock farmers meet Mitsotakis at Maximos Mansion: Plan for the next day of livestock farming with new funding tools
At the same time, however, farmers are planning a rally in Athens on Friday afternoon, specifically in Syntagma Square. “We’re coming to Athens,” said the president of the Federation of Agricultural Associations of Larissa Prefecture, Rizos Maroudas (on SKAI), and mentioned that “this will be the continuation of our mobilization, as we said we’re ‘leaving the blockades, but we’re not giving up.’ The problems are many.”
Today, Tuesday, there will be a broad meeting at Maximos Mansion with about 20 livestock farmer representatives and a large government team. Government sources remind that this specific meeting was scheduled during the first meeting of Kyriakos Mitsotakis with farmer representatives who had sided with dialogue with the government during the agricultural mobilizations, and point out that today’s meeting concerns planning for the sector’s future.
Who will participate
Besides the prime minister, participants will include Deputy Prime Minister Kostis Hatzidakis, government spokesman Pavlos Marinakis, Deputy Minister to the Prime Minister Giorgos Mylonakis, Minister of Agricultural Development and Food Kostas Tsiaras, and deputy ministers Giannis Andrianos and Christos Kellas, the ministry’s general secretaries Spyros Protopsaltis, Antonis Filippis and Argyro Zerva, AADE administrator Giorgos Pitsilis, the presidents of ELGA and OPEKEPE, Andreas Lykourentzos and Giannis Kavvadas respectively, and Charalambos Billinis, professor of virology and viral diseases and rector of the University of Thessaly.
“It’s a continuation of previous meetings. We had pre-announced a new meeting only with livestock farmers. I think it’s the primary sector branch that has the biggest problems, also due to foot-and-mouth disease,” Mr. Marinakis stated on Monday. Mr. Tsiaras pointed out (on Alpha Radio) that all critical sector issues will be discussed thoroughly, as the government’s goal is “to see how we’ll support the country’s livestock farming through its reorganization and planning at such a level that it will be viable and resilient for many years to come.”
The Minister of Agricultural Development and Food emphasized that “it’s now time to rebuild Greek livestock farming on healthy foundations,” with funding tools for livestock capital reconstruction, strict biosafety rules, and measures that will ensure the quality and dynamism of Greek livestock products. As he characteristically mentioned, “this is our big bet: to rebuild Greek livestock farming better overall and give it the role and productive capacity it deserves.” Referring to foot-and-mouth disease, Mr. Tsiaras noted that close cooperation with the European Commission is underway and that, based on scientific data, “right now there’s a big gap,” as “there’s no licensed vaccine” and “there’s no DIVA method that can distinguish whether an animal is sick from the disease or from vaccination.” As he stressed, “all these carry great risks for our livestock capital.”
