Protesting farmers block border crossing with Bulgaria indefinitely, set up new road blocks
ΣΧΕΤΙΚΑ ΑΡΘΡΑ
Farmers in central and western Macedonia escalated protest action without warning on Monday, with a decision to indefinitely block the Promachonas border crossing with Bulgaria with their tractors.
In the meantime, new farmers continued arriving and new road blocks sprung up at the Kouloura junction on the Egnatia highway, in addition to the road block at the Kerdyllia junction that started on January 20.
The farmers and livestock breeders at Halkidona and Giannitsa jointed forces to form a new road block on the Axios Bridge in Thessaloniki made up of more than 1,300 tractors and heavy farm machinery.
New farmer roadblocks also appeared at Paleokomi in Serres, Deskati in Grevena and Gomati in Ierrisos Halkidiki, while the number in Pella rose to three, at Arnisa, Mavrovouni and Mesimeri.
Further south, the mood remained equally militant and the seven gatherings of tractors in Fthiotida proceeded to block traffic at intervals throughout the day, for one or two hours at a time.
The national highway from Athens to Thessaloniki was closed in both directions for over an hour at the Anthili area, with cars diverted onto side roads and the local road network. At Atalanti, farmers only blocked access in the lane from Lamia to Athens, while elsewhere they blocked the old national highway, trapping trucks that were unable to get through to continue their journey.
A road bloc at two points on the Lamia-Domokos road to Karditsa and Trikala caused bedlam and huge delays, forcing traffic onto minor roads, while farmers bloced both lanes at the 110th kilometre of the national highway through Viotia for two hours.