Farmers march against austerity

"Cardiac arrest" reads the To Ethnos report on the farmers' protest, which has paralysed transport networks in Greece, and halted freight shipments from abroad. The daily explains that "for the last ten days, motorways in the centre and north of the country have been rendered impassable by roadblocks, and the farmers are also picketing ports and customs stations." Traffic from neighbouring countries has been affected to the point where "the Bulgarian government has appealed to the European Commission to re-open a number of transport arteries, but the protests are likely to continue in the near future. On 25 January, over 500 farmers marched through central Athens. "The farmers, who benefitted substantially from European funding in the 1980s, are demanding fresh subsidies," which the daily reports to be worth one billion euros. "However, the state coffers are empty, and Brussels is pressing the government to reduce its rising budget deficit. Now that stocks of raw materials are starting to dwindle, the movement is determined to induce a state of cardiac arrest in the country. However, Prime Minister Georges Papandreou has insisted that he will not bow to pressure."