ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Scores of bright-colored tractors parked outside Greece's parliament Tuesday, horns blaring, as thousands of farmers angry at high production costs shifted their protests to Athens.
“Without us, you don’t eat," one banner said.
The farmers — whose demands are similar to those at farmer protests elsewhere in Europe — have spent weeks staging sporadic blockades along highways and in rural towns. Farmers in central Greece are also still reeling from major floods last year.
The center-right government has expressed sympathy with the farmers but said budgetary constraints prevent it from meeting all their demands, beyond substantial electricity cost reductions.
Protesters say that's not enough. They also want tax-free fuel, debt forgiveness, measures against foreign competition and speedier compensation for damage from natural disasters.
Earlier Tuesday a convoy of about 200 tractors drove 120 kilometers (about 75 miles) from the central Greek village of Kastro to Athens.
Some farmers carried mock coffins and funeral garlands as symbols of their plight, chanting: “Don’t bow your heads.” Others traveled in chartered buses or arrived by ferry from the southern island of Crete.
In a show of solidarity, hundreds of students joined the farmers and protested government plans to end the state monopoly on university education.
The government took back a previous threat to block Tuesday’s protest. Police were deployed to help divert highway traffic, and much of central Athens was blocked to motorists and public transport.
Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis in a television interview Monday said he could not support additional tax breaks and concessions but wanted to continue discussions with protesters.