Greek PM holds talks with protesting farmers to end blockades

Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras received a delegation of protesting farmers at his office on Monday in a bid to reach a compromise solution to end farmers' nationwide blockades.

Farmers are fighting the government's planned social security and taxation reforms which would see the average farmer's payments to pension funds and taxes triple. Meanwhile, the 69 blockades have caused severe problems in the economy due to national motorways and customs offices being cut off.

Monday's meeting marked the first time the leftist Prime Minister held talks with farmers since the start of the protests mid-January.

The government initially intended to put the draft bills to a parliamentary vote in December 2015 or January 2016.

Cabinet ministers defended the changes as the only way to safeguard the sustainability of the social insurance funds and restore "justice and equality" among all taxpayers.

Farmers, who have traditionally paid lower contributions and taxes for decades, rejected the reforms, claiming that if the measures were implemented, they would lose 70 percent of their income overnight.

For months, farmers blocked border crossings and key junctions of national highways for several hours each day, calling for the withdrawal of the government's plans as well as addition measures to support agricultural production such as tax-free diesel.

During Monday's meeting, Tsipras welcomed the proposals submitted by the delegation as a "good basis for dialogue," Greek national broadcaster ERT reported.

However, in a clear signal that his government did not have much room for maneuvering, he stressed farmers "should also take under consideration the overall problem of the country and the current fiscal conditions."

At the same time, disputes among the ranks of farmers threatened the outcome of the dialogue, several local media and political analysts noted.

Hardliners from at least five major roadblocks among the more than 15,000 farmers who were out in the streets across Greece refused to participate in Monday's meeting unless the government's draft bills were completely withdrawn.

Representatives from the Nationwide Association of Young Farmers also complained that they were not allowed to attend the meeting and requested separate meetings to discuss their demands.

According to government sources, during Monday's meeting, the government proposed to farmers a gradual introduction of the tax hikes from the current 10 percent rate to 20 percent by 2022, and lower payments to social security funds in return for lower pensions, local daily Nea reported.

The government has repeatedly underlined during the protests that "no reform is not an option." Ministers argued that some painful changes need to be made without delay because of Greece's commitments under bailout agreements with its international lenders.

The pension system reform, in particular, is a precondition for the disbursement of the next tranche of loans to Athens and the launch of any talks on the debt relief. Endit