Gov’t spokesman optimistic after farmers’ meeting with PM
Government spokesman Pavlos Marinakis has expressed optimism over the meeting that Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis held with representatives of protesting farmers at Maximos Mansion.
The representatives themselves say that the conversation, while cordial, did not meet their expectations or demands, and that their blockading of highways and lifting of toll booth barriers will continue.
Speaking to private broadcaster MEGA, Marinakis said that the prime minister’s proposals were “specific and well-studied,” and that the proposals to provide farmers with cheaper electricity and diesel will be subsidized by the state over the course of the coming years.
“Combined with everything that has been given by the government in times of difficulty, I am optimistic that the situation will deescalate in terms of mobilizations,” Marinakis said, adding that he does not believe the government will have to put an end to the protests, but also that it will ensure free movement of citizens on the highways.
Marinakis repeated the prime minister’s statement that dialogue cannot be continued while the roads remain closed, and that the government is still looking into negotiations over the European Union’s Common Agricultural Policy as well as the fact that foodstuffs produced in Greece with imported materials are labeled as “Made in Greece.”
The government spokesman also said that another meeting with representatives of protesting farmers from Thessaly will be scheduled in the near future.
