Greek farmers rally in Athens against new tax hikes

Thousands of Greek farmers held a symbolic peaceful rally here on Tuesday in protest of the new round of tax hikes and increases in social insurance contributions which took effect on Jan. 1 this year.

More than 2,000 people gathered in front of the Rural Development Ministry and marched to the Greek parliament, shouting anti-austerity slogans and waving banners.

As a delegation submitted a resolution outlining their demands to the parliament, farmers distributed cabbages for free on Syntagma square.

According to the National Farmers Roadblocks Committee, they request the abolition of the hikes introduced as part of bailout policies imposed by Greece's creditors. They ask for the implementation of measures to support the agricultural sector.

Farmers demand a tax-free income allowance of 12,000 euros (12,688 U.S. dollars) annually with an additional 3,000 euros per child, tax-free fuel and minimum guaranteed prices for their products.

They also request lower minimum age of retirement, protection from confiscation of bank accounts with less than 15,000 euros and a 30 percent "haircut" of their debts from loans up to 200,000 euros.

Protesting farmers complain that after seven years of austerity, they cannot meet their financial obligations and support their families.

During talks between their unionists and cabinet ministers in recent weeks, the government rejected their demands as impossible to satisfy at the moment, given Greece's dire finances.

Addressing the crowd on Tuesday unionists such as Vangelis Boutas, a spokesman of farmers from central Greece, warned with escalation of their mobilizations.

"We are struggling for our survival. We cannot live under such terms. Middle and small size agricultural businesses which make up the 90 percent of farmers are uprooted and that is why we are fighting to stay alive," he told Xinhua.

"Farmers in Athens today are sending a loud message to the government and the EU and all those who are uprooting them from their land and their properties," added Dimitris Koutsoumbas, General Secretary of the Greek Communist party, who also attended the protest.

Farmers throughout Greece have set up protest road blocks using their tractors on national highways since mid January, sporadically obstructing traffic for a few hours every other day and closing border crossings to other Balkan countries.

Last year's protracted protests created major transport disruption and cost companies millions of euros. Endit