In Greece, thousands of farmers are paralysing the country in protest against agricultural policy. Tractors are blocking motorways, ports and airports. The protests were triggered by a lack of EU funding.
Source: tkp.at, Thomas Oysmüller, 10 December 2025
Impressive images from Greece once again symbolise the dissatisfaction with agricultural policy, which is directed and controlled by Brussels. Since the end of November, Greek farmers have been demonstrating against high production costs, excessively low sales prices and unfairly distributed EU subsidies.
Videos show endless columns of agricultural machinery blocking motorways as well as ports and airports. Farmers have also blocked border crossings to North Macedonia, Bulgaria and Turkey with their tractors, leading to hours-long diversions. At Heraklion Airport on Crete, demonstrators forced their way onto the tarmac, paralysing flights. There were clashes with the police in Heraklion and other regions, where tear gas was used.
A total of up to 6,000 tractors are said to be actively involved in the protest, with some observers even talking of up to 25,000, which is probably a slight exaggeration. The protests were triggered by a corruption scandal involving EU subsidies, but the farmers are also demonstrating against the high costs of energy and fertiliser. A fate shared by farmers throughout the EU. They are also under massive pressure due to the opening of the EU market to farmers from Ukraine.
Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, a de facto governor for the EU Commission, has already had to give in and promised 1.2 billion euros in aid by the end of December. However, the farmers are unlikely to believe him and want to continue protesting until Christmas.
The farmers in particular are by no means only in Greece. In France, for example, farmers regularly protest against the EU-Mercosur trade agreement with South America, which fears cheap imports, as well as against imports from India. Currently, there are also protests against the forced culling of livestock due to alleged health risks. In September and November 2025, tractors blocked roads in France. A current case in the Ariège, where 208 cows are to be killed, is fuelling the mood.
Back to Greece and some voices from the camp of the protesting farmers:
“The product prices are so humiliatingly low that the production costs are higher than the money we earn,” Vaios Tsiakmakis, a tobacco and cotton grower, told AFP at a protest rally near the centre of Karditsa.
Iordanis Ioannidis, a cotton farmer and spokesman for the demonstrators at a tractor protest near Larissa, said the sector had reached “rock bottom” and the farmers had little left to lose.
“The government is giving us money that has been owed to us since 2023.” There is no political will to help the primary sector,” he added.
Another farmer at the same roadblock, Evripides Katsaros, said the sector’s demands were about “survival,” pointing out that his pear crop costs 31,000 euros ($36,000) to produce annually and earns him only 27,000 euros.
“The government has given us nothing,” said Katsaros.
On Monday, farmers on the island of Crete broke through police lines and occupied the main airports of Iraklio and Chania, forcing several flights to be cancelled or postponed.
Another farm protest on the island of Lesbos on Monday prevented passengers from leaving an outbound ferry.
The protests were triggered by a fraud scandal involving EU agricultural subsidies. The EU claims that some farmers submitted fictitious applications, which led to a deficit of around 600 million euros. As a result, many Greek farmers have to wait for their subsidies.
Belgium
Once again, it is the farmers who are making the system sweat with their protests. In France and Brussels in particular, there are massive protests against the EU-Mercosur trade agreement. Farmers are concerned that this would lead to cheap imports from South America, which would make it impossible for farmers in Europe to keep up with prices and thus cause them immense economic damage.
The protests have been escalating, especially since yesterday. Roadblocks, burning tyres and stinking manure in front of politicians’ workplaces are the order of the day. In Brussels, farmers are throwing potatoes at EU buildings. The police respond with tear gas and water cannons. Numerous videos also show police beating farmers with batons.
A total of almost 10,000 farmers from all over the EU, including around 500 from Germany, are said to have travelled to Brussels for the protests. And they are already celebrating a first partial success: the EU has postponed the signing of the deal until January 2026.
- Free trade agreement with Latin America criticised
- Police responded with tear gas & water cannons, farmers were able to move barbed wire barriers but could not break through.
- The majority of participants peaceful, organised by the Federation of Young EU Farmers (FJA) & national associations.
- FJA target: 8,000 tractors & 50,000 participants by the end of the day!
- Roads around the Euro-Quartier are mostly closed
- Showing farmers: When voices are ignored, you have to become visible!
France
UK
Ireland
In Ireland, farmers have been told that they will have to cull 200,000 cows to meet the government’s “climate target”.
This is one of many insane pieces of legislation that will technically bankrupt them. The battle of Irish farmers has now begun.
