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Greek Farmers Ambivalent About Continuing Roadblocks After Meeting With Tsipras

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It is up to the coordinating committees to decide if they want to continue roadblocks, said Vangelis Boutas, the coordinator of the Nikaia farmer blocs, after meeting with Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras.
The Nikaia bloc farmers were the ones who refused to meet with the prime minister unless the government withdrew the proposed security fund and taxation reforms.
On Thursday’s meeting — that lasted two and a half hours — both sides seemed to come out fairly satisfied. Yet, the statements Boutas made to reporters after the talks were rather ambivalent.
“It is up to the individual committees to decide. It is not one man’s decision. We remain in the roadblocks. Each roadblock decides,” Boutas said.
The protesting farmer said that the delegation did not leave the table empty-handed. “The Tax exempt incomes issue was non negotiable before the meeting; now it is. The security funds bill is not tabled yet. We will wait to see the draft,” he said.
“The farmers struggle lasted for 40 days. It left a legacy behind it. This is not a one-time thing, it will continue along with other working people. We are standing by. It seems that the anti-farmer policies continue, but so is our struggle. We are fighting to meet our needs so that we stay alive and continue to farm our land,” Boutas said.
Tsipras: We are trying to solve a difficult fiscal equation
“We are trying to solve a difficult fiscal equation,” Tsipras told farmers. “Our concern should be the vast majority of farmers who are still going through rough times, and we must try to create conditions to change this situation.”
“However, we must keep in mind that we won’t be able to come out of the crisis unless we make the “pie” bigger and agricultural production is probably our only chance to increase national wealth,” Tsipras said.
“We must find solutions to help people who produce goods, people who work hard, but we must separate those of low income and a small minority who have been favored in the past few years,” the prime minister said.

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