Farmers, livestock breeders, and beekeepers in Greece are maintaining road and border-post blockades across Central and Western Macedonia, as demonstrations over unresolved issues in the agricultural sector intensify.
In Thessaly and Epirus, protestors have expanded their actions to include both road and border closures. At the Malgara tolls on the Thessaloniki–Athens National Highway, farmers from the Delta Municipality and surrounding areas have kept the lane toward Athens closed since Dec. 1, while the opposite lane is intermittently opened. Truck drivers joined the protests on Tuesday, and taxi operators are expected to join a 48-hour strike concluding Thursday morning at 05:00.
On the Greece–North Macedonia border, the Evzoni customs station blockade, established Dec. 1 by farmers from Paionia Municipality, continues. Protesters allow passage for trucks carrying Greek products and vehicles in emergencies. Demonstrations there mainly occur at midday and evening, with traffic halted for three hours at a time. Farmers from Giannitsa in Pella plan to join the blockade today after meeting at the Paralímni junction.
Other long-standing blockades include Chalkidona on the old Thessaloniki–Edessa road, Alexandria in Imathia, and the Kouloura junction in Imathia, where farmers have gathered but not yet closed roads. New blockades were also established on Tuesday at Gypsokhori in Pella and Filotas on the Kozani–Florina axis of Pan-European Corridor X, involving beekeepers.
In Serres, farmers and livestock breeders, joined by other labor union representatives, plan to gather at the Lefkona intersection at noon before moving toward the Promachonas customs station on the Greece–Bulgaria border. Other groups are moving toward the Kerdyllia junction.
Thessaly has seen the largest mobilization, with more than 4,000 tractors deployed: over 1,000 at Nikaia (motorway closed both directions), more than 2,000 along E-65 in Karditsa forming a two-kilometer line, and a new blockade near the Megalochori junction in Trikala being set up.
The protests reflect mounting frustration among Greece’s primary producers over what they describe as insufficient government support for the sector.