Greek police fire tear gas at protesting farmers threatening to blockade airport

Chaos erupted in Thessaloniki on Friday as riot police deployed tear gas against farmers who attempted to block the main road to Greece’s second-largest city’s international airport. The confrontation marks a significant escalation in nationwide protests over delayed European Union agricultural subsidies.

Across Greece, farmers have mobilized thousands of tractors and agricultural vehicles at strategic locations, including border crossings and major highways. The protesters have been periodically halting traffic and threatening comprehensive blockades of transportation infrastructure, including airports and ports.

Law enforcement agencies have implemented traffic diversions throughout northern and central Greece to circumvent these blockades. Meanwhile, farmer-led roadblocks at Greece’s northern borders with Bulgaria, Turkey, and North Macedonia have significantly disrupted freight transportation, creating extensive backlogs of commercial vehicles.

The payment delays stem from authorities’ comprehensive review of subsidy applications following the discovery of widespread fraudulent claims for EU farm assistance. Farmers argue that this approach unfairly penalizes honest agricultural workers, leaving them in financial distress and unable to prepare fields for upcoming planting seasons.

“We’re out in the street protesting whereas we should be sowing. We’re bankrupt,” said farmer Vasilis Mavroskas, highlighting the dire circumstances facing the agricultural community. He warned of broader implications for food security, adding, “If I stop producing, think of what will happen at the table of urban centers. We’re appealing for society to join us.”

The Greek agricultural sector faces compounded challenges this year, with an outbreak of goat and sheep pox necessitating mass livestock culling, further straining farmers’ financial stability.

Near Thessaloniki airport, between 200-300 farmers with over 100 tractors blocked a nearby road. A smaller contingent attempted to breach police lines with tractors to obstruct the airport’s main access route, which would have effectively isolated the facility from arriving and departing travelers.

Public Order Minister Michalis Chrisochoidis has maintained that while the government remains open to dialogue with protest leaders, it will not tolerate the shutdown of critical transportation nodes. This stance sets the stage for potential further confrontations as farmers show no signs of backing down.

Christos Tsilias, vice president of the Thessaloniki farmers’ union, called for public support of their demands and increased pressure on the government to release the overdue payments. “At this moment the plains of Thessaloniki and Halkidiki are not planted,” he explained. “We don’t have money to buy raw materials” such as seeds and fertilizer.

Agricultural protests have a long history in Greece, with similar blockades previously severing north-south road connections for extended periods. The current demonstrations could follow this pattern if the government fails to address farmers’ concerns promptly.

The subsidy scandal has already caused significant political fallout, forcing five senior government officials to resign in June and leading to the phased dismantling of the state agency responsible for agricultural subsidy administration. Law enforcement has arrested dozens of individuals for allegedly filing fraudulent claims as part of an investigation spearheaded by the European Public Prosecutor’s Office.

In late October, the independent EU financial crime body characterized the investigation as targeting “a systematic large-scale subsidy fraud scheme and money-laundering activities.” This characterization underscores the severity of the fraud that prompted the payment delays at the heart of the current protests.

The standoff comes at a particularly sensitive time for Greece’s agricultural sector, which represents about 3% of the country’s GDP but employs a disproportionately large segment of the workforce, especially in rural regions where alternative employment opportunities are limited. The continued delay in subsidy payments threatens not only the livelihoods of thousands of farming families but also domestic food production and supply chains.