Greek farmers block borders, airport and roads in protest at delayed EU farm subsidies

ATHENS, Dec 8 (Reuters) – Greek farmers disrupted traffic at border crossings and at an airport on the island of Crete on Monday, as well as blocking roads across the country, as they stepped up protests begun after investigations into corruption led to the delay of European Union subsidies. 

Thousands of trucks participated in at least 20 blockades, local media said.

Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, whose government’s popularity has been harmed by the dispute, urged farmers to end the blockades. “The government is open for dialogue,” he said.

European prosecutors in February alleged that thousands of farmers, assisted by state employees, faked land and livestock ownership for years to qualify for EU funds. 

The centre-right Greek government has pledged to reform the state agency OPEKEPE, which handles the EU subsidies. Greek authorities have also launched their own investigation into farmers’ applications and tax records.

The government has said that more than 40,000 of farmers’ applications are being inspected. Meanwhile, it has pledged to distribute 3.7 billion euros ($4.3 billion) to farmers this year, but it has acknowledged the payment delays.

Some of the farmers’ rallies, which began last month, have turned violent.  

On the island of Crete on Monday, police fired tear gas to disperse a group of protesting farmers who hurled stones at them as they tried to reach the airport of Heraklion, state TV ERT said. Airport operations had been suspended due to the action since 1200 GMT, an airport official said. Another official said that protesters had crossed into the flight corridors.  

Another group tried to block the airport of Chania and damaged police vehicles. 

In the north, farmers disrupted traffic at the Promachonas and Kipi border crossings with Bulgaria and Turkey respectively. A customs official at the Kipi checkpoint said that only trucks with sensitive goods were allowed to cross. 

Roadblocks were also set up in southwestern and central Greece, where farmers have said they aim to block the Volos port this week. 

($1 = 0.8584 euros)

(Reporting by Renee Maltezou and Angeliki Koutantou; editing by Barbara Lewis)