Feature: Protesting farmers in Greek capital return home, unionists vow new strikes

Source: Xinhua   2017-03-10 03:45:58

ATHENS, March 9 (Xinhua) -- Protesting farmers from all over Greece returned home empty handed on Thursday after the latest stormy rally in Athens against the new round of tax hikes and increases in social insurance contributions that took effect on Jan. 1 this year.

"All we know is how to produce. That is why we are here: to say that they should let us keep producing; they should let us keep cultivating our land for us, for our children, for Greece," Vassilis Zouras, President of the Farmers Union of Velvento in northern Greece, told Xinhua before boarding the bus to return home.

Under the new taxation system, Greek farmers now face 20 percent income tax for income up to 20,000 euros (21,166 U.S. dollars) per year. Until last year the rate was 13 percent, while before the crisis, it was only 6 percent.

And under the new social security system, the farmers' minimum contributions to funds also doubled from 7 percent of their monthly income to 14 percent.

Combined with the lifting of tax breaks on fuel, seeds and fertilizers that have increased production costs in recent years, and the low prices they get for their products, Greek farmers insist that the agricultural sector is suffocating and needs help.

Speaking to Xinhua during the latest rally in front of the Agriculture Ministry on Wednesday, farmers said that they cannot do otherwise than continue protesting.

"They have brought us at this point where we can no longer cultivate our land; we cannot survive facing this taxation. The Greek farmer is facing extinction," said Manolis Michalakis, President of the Farmers Union of Ierapetra region on Crete island, who was among the about 2,000 protesters outside the ministry Wednesday.

"In recent years we have lost all the rights we had won in the past. The government introduced the new social security system, the new taxation... They do not want us to produce," Christos Anagnostakos, head of the Farmers Union of Evrotas municipality in southern Peloponnese peninsula, told Xinhua.

Dimitris A., another farmer, held the view that "all support is given to imported goods".

"Imported produce has low VAT rates, while we deal with high VAT. How can the farmer or livestock breeder hold out and keep producing under such circumstances?" said the farmer, arguing that the middle and small size agricultural businesses, which make up the 90 percent of farmers in Greece, are uprooted with these measures.

Under the pressure of strict bailout commitments, the government's message was that there is no space to maneuver and the farmers will have to bear their share of the burden to exit the crisis.

During a recent interview with national broadcaster ERT, Deputy Agriculture Minister Yannis Tsironis, however, downplayed the protesters' claims, stressing that the about 800,000 farmers remain one of the most "pampered professionals".

"In 2016, they received 3.7 billion euros in subsidies from the EU," the official noted. "In 2015 they had received 5.6 billion euros in subsidies, while in 2009, at the start of the Greek debt crisis, the amount stood at 8.6 billion euros."

Meanwhile, nine in ten farmers, according to the Finance Ministry, declared in 2016 annual income of up to 5,000 euros. Only 2 percent of Greek farmers declared incomes higher than 20,000 euros per year.

For the unionists, who insisted that the load is unbearable and therefore farmers cannot stay silent, they warned with other forms of strike action starting Friday.

Following blockades in key national highway junctions nationwide for over a month this winter, and two symbolic demonstrations in the center of Athens, the protesters now plan other mobilizations, like adding pressure on the MPs of the ruling coalition who will visit their constituencies this weekend.

"We will welcome the deputies of the ruling coalition the same way we were welcomed in Athens. They are personae non gratae," Yorgos Dispirakis, head of the committee of farmers unions of Crete island, told a local radio station Thursday.

Editor: Mu Xuequan
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Feature: Protesting farmers in Greek capital return home, unionists vow new strikes

Source: Xinhua 2017-03-10 03:45:58

ATHENS, March 9 (Xinhua) -- Protesting farmers from all over Greece returned home empty handed on Thursday after the latest stormy rally in Athens against the new round of tax hikes and increases in social insurance contributions that took effect on Jan. 1 this year.

"All we know is how to produce. That is why we are here: to say that they should let us keep producing; they should let us keep cultivating our land for us, for our children, for Greece," Vassilis Zouras, President of the Farmers Union of Velvento in northern Greece, told Xinhua before boarding the bus to return home.

Under the new taxation system, Greek farmers now face 20 percent income tax for income up to 20,000 euros (21,166 U.S. dollars) per year. Until last year the rate was 13 percent, while before the crisis, it was only 6 percent.

And under the new social security system, the farmers' minimum contributions to funds also doubled from 7 percent of their monthly income to 14 percent.

Combined with the lifting of tax breaks on fuel, seeds and fertilizers that have increased production costs in recent years, and the low prices they get for their products, Greek farmers insist that the agricultural sector is suffocating and needs help.

Speaking to Xinhua during the latest rally in front of the Agriculture Ministry on Wednesday, farmers said that they cannot do otherwise than continue protesting.

"They have brought us at this point where we can no longer cultivate our land; we cannot survive facing this taxation. The Greek farmer is facing extinction," said Manolis Michalakis, President of the Farmers Union of Ierapetra region on Crete island, who was among the about 2,000 protesters outside the ministry Wednesday.

"In recent years we have lost all the rights we had won in the past. The government introduced the new social security system, the new taxation... They do not want us to produce," Christos Anagnostakos, head of the Farmers Union of Evrotas municipality in southern Peloponnese peninsula, told Xinhua.

Dimitris A., another farmer, held the view that "all support is given to imported goods".

"Imported produce has low VAT rates, while we deal with high VAT. How can the farmer or livestock breeder hold out and keep producing under such circumstances?" said the farmer, arguing that the middle and small size agricultural businesses, which make up the 90 percent of farmers in Greece, are uprooted with these measures.

Under the pressure of strict bailout commitments, the government's message was that there is no space to maneuver and the farmers will have to bear their share of the burden to exit the crisis.

During a recent interview with national broadcaster ERT, Deputy Agriculture Minister Yannis Tsironis, however, downplayed the protesters' claims, stressing that the about 800,000 farmers remain one of the most "pampered professionals".

"In 2016, they received 3.7 billion euros in subsidies from the EU," the official noted. "In 2015 they had received 5.6 billion euros in subsidies, while in 2009, at the start of the Greek debt crisis, the amount stood at 8.6 billion euros."

Meanwhile, nine in ten farmers, according to the Finance Ministry, declared in 2016 annual income of up to 5,000 euros. Only 2 percent of Greek farmers declared incomes higher than 20,000 euros per year.

For the unionists, who insisted that the load is unbearable and therefore farmers cannot stay silent, they warned with other forms of strike action starting Friday.

Following blockades in key national highway junctions nationwide for over a month this winter, and two symbolic demonstrations in the center of Athens, the protesters now plan other mobilizations, like adding pressure on the MPs of the ruling coalition who will visit their constituencies this weekend.

"We will welcome the deputies of the ruling coalition the same way we were welcomed in Athens. They are personae non gratae," Yorgos Dispirakis, head of the committee of farmers unions of Crete island, told a local radio station Thursday.

[Editor: huaxia]
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