Protesting Greek farmers disrupt port operations as nationwide blockades persist

VOLOS, Greece, ‌Dec 10 (Reuters) - Dozens of Greek farmers disrupted operations at the regional port of Volos ‍on Wednesday ‌as part of a nationwide demonstration to protest delays in farm aid payments and high ⁠production costs.

Farmers have deployed thousands of tractors ‌and trucks in dozens of blockades for days, disrupting traffic at several junctures along major motorways and intermittently blocking border crossings as they face a shortfall of more than 600 million euros  ($698.58 million) in ⁠European Union aid and other payments. 

The delays were prompted by investigations into a corruption scandal in which some farmers, ​aided by state employees, faked land ownership to qualify for ‌payouts. Ongoing audits have slowed subsequent ⁠disbursements. The delays also coincide with an outbreak of sheep pox undefined that has led to farmers having to cull hundreds of thousands of sheep and goats.

Farmers from the ​central agricultural region of Thessaly, where floods devastated crops and livestock in 2023, drove their tractors to the nearby city of Volos and parked them for a few hours outside the port. Police blocked the entrance to keep them away from passenger and cargo ​terminals.

In an ‍attempt to limit the impact ​of the protests on transport, a Greek Supreme Court prosecutor ordered authorities on Tuesday to immediately detain farmers who threaten traffic safety intentionally.

"We're not backing down. If they want to arrest the thousands of protesting people, let them come and arrest us," Costas Sefis, a farmer from the northern city of Malgara, told public broadcaster ERT.

He said compensation for the 2023 ⁠disaster had been limited and had come too late.

The centre-right government of Kyriakos Mitsotakis, under fire over the scandal, has said it ​is open to discussions and has urged farmers to halt the blockades. It has acknowledged delays in payments and said farmers will soon receive more aid.

But the protests continue. In the north, transport trucks formed long queues at Greece’s border ‌with Bulgaria late on Tuesday where farmers intermittently restricted traffic through the Promachonas border crossing.

(Reporting by Stamos Prousalis and Louisa Gouliamaki in Volos; Writing by Angeliki Koutantou; editing by Gareth Jones )