Farmers across Greece intensified their protests on Wednesday, expanding blockades on key roads, highways and border crossings as tensions mounted over compensation demands and rising production costs, Greek daily Kathimerini reported.
Major traffic disruptions were recorded along central transport corridors, including sections of the Athens–Thessaloniki national highway and the Egnatia, Ionia and Olympia motorways. Blockades were also set up at the Evzoni and Niki crossings to North Macedonia and at Promachonas and Exochi on the border with Bulgaria.
Greece’s Supreme Court ordered prosecutors to open criminal proceedings against organisers of illegal protest actions, with the option of on-the-spot arrests.
A national meeting of blockade representatives is scheduled for Saturday in Nikaia near Larissa, where farmers are expected to coordinate their next steps and finalise a unified list of demands.
On Wednesday, farmers from Thessaly planned to block the freight terminal at the port of Volos, while demonstrators in Aetolia-Acarnania and Achaia prepared actions at the Rio–Antirrio bridge, including briefly opening toll gates.
Blockades continued along the Antirrio–Ioannina motorway, the Mornos and Evinos bridges and the Amvrakia road. In Achaia, traffic was diverted to local routes due to obstructions on the Patras–Pyrgos and Patras–Corinth motorways, with similar disruptions reported in Ilia.
The Athens–Lamia national highway remained closed at four key points, forcing lengthy detours along regional and older road networks.
Farmers in northern Evia strengthened their blockades and gathered in Chalkida to coordinate further action. In Thessaly, protests continued at checkpoints along the E65 motorway near Karditsa and Trikala, where the number of tractors has been rising daily.
Near Thessaloniki, farmers maintained their blockade at Malgara despite intervention by prosecutors. On Crete, demonstrators occupied the Decentralised Administration building in Heraklion for a third consecutive day and signalled that new decisions would be taken by their coordinating committee.
Farmers say their main demands include compensation for losses, lower production costs, reduced fuel prices and agricultural subsidies. Discontent has grown following revelations by European prosecutors this year of long-standing falsification of land and livestock data to secure EU funds, Serbian agency Tanjug reported.