Greek Farmers Continue to Block Bulgaria Border

Local businesses report mounting losses due to the blockade. Bulgaria’s Agriculture Ministry and Ministry of Economy, Energy and Tourism received complaints from firms reporting a total loss of approximately 77.5 million leva so far.

Greek farmers set up barricades leading to the Bulgarian and Macedonian border on Monday to protest against their government’s austerity measures, including unpaid EU subsidies and some are asking for a freeze on the repayment of debt owed to the state controlled Agricultural Bank.

Cars and lorries carrying goods to and from destinations as far as Poland, Italy and Turkey are stranded on both sides of the border.

The farmers say they will carry on until their demands are met. A year ago when farmers blockaded the main roads across the country, they forced the former Greek government into agreeing to support package.

Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borisov has accused the Greek authorities of not doing enough to clear the roadblocks, Novinite reports.

On Tuesday Economy Minister Traicho Traikov said Bulgaria is losing three million euro per day due to the protests. The timber, car and tourism sectors have all reported losses which the link to the blockade.