Farmers ready to take protest to downtown Thessaloniki

Farmers protesting tax and social security contribution hikes are planning to drive around 30 tractors and pickup trucks into downtown Thessaloniki on Thursday to stage a rally outside the HELEXPO exhibition center, which is hosting a livestock fair.

Their action comes after farmers staged a protest outside a tax office in the main square of the northeastern town of Ioannina on Wednesday.

Tractors also lined up at key junctions on Greece’s national highways, creating traffic problems in parts of northern Greece and in the Peloponnese.