00:00Greek farmers are escalating their protest against the government, demanding immediate
00:05payments of subsidies from Opekepi, the agency responsible for distributing EU agricultural
00:11subsidies and protesting the increased production costs alongside low prices of their products.
00:18The blockade comes after several people were arrested last week in the spiraling farm fraud
00:23case that revealed millions of euros were paid in illegal subsidies by Opekepi, a scandal
00:30that has provoked farmers and brought extra scrutiny to subsidy payments in Greece.
00:36On Sunday, major incidents were reported in central Greece, specifically in the Thessaly
00:41region where farmers managed to break through police blockades and block the critical Athens-Thessaloniki
00:48national highway with tractors.
00:51According to an announcement by the Greek national police, two police officers were
00:55also injured and three arrests were made.
00:58With no assurances or statements from the government, the protests are expected to spread across Greece
01:04until the 5th of December with more road blockades, a tactic frequently used by farmers to put pressure
01:11on the authorities.
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