Farmers and livestock breeders in western Greece renewed road blockades on Monday, briefly shutting parts of a major highway linking the region to the rest of the country, as protests over agricultural policy and costs continued.
Protesters from the Aetolia-Acarnania region blocked the Ionia Odos motorway at the Angelokastro toll station near the city of Agrinio, forcing traffic to divert onto older national roads, local authorities said.
The Ionia Odos connects the northwestern city of Ioannina with the southern port of Patras and is a key transport artery for western Greece.
The blockade had been lifted temporarily on Christmas Eve to ease holiday travel but was reinstated on Monday. Farmers said the road would be reopened again on New Year’s Eve.
Protesters plan to drive tractors into Agrinio on Tuesday and demonstrate outside the offices of lawmakers from the ruling New Democracy party, organisers said.
Elsewhere, farmers in the neighbouring region of Achaia continued to block the Eglikada interchange on Patras’s ring road, further disrupting traffic and forcing vehicles onto local streets.
Greek farmers have staged repeated protests in recent weeks, demanding relief from rising production costs and changes to agricultural support policies.