Farmers remain on protest standby until memorandum is signed with the government
Farmers remain on protest standby until a memorandum is signed with the government to fix decisions taken at a meeting with the prime minister, finance minister and agriculture minister on September 19.
Tractors and other equipment are still at the entrance to the capital at Dolni Bogrov. Beekeepers are protesting today, September 20, in front of the Agriculture Ministry, while the Council of Ministers is deciding on the 63 million promised to farmers yesterday.
Many of the farmers are not happy with the decisions that were reached during the negotiations between the protesters' leadership and the government. They insist that the import ban should also include sunflower seeds, wheat and some dairy products. For this reason, there were also disagreements during the discussion on what the protesters' follow-up actions would be. For two hours they have been unable to reach a decision. There was also tension between the media and the protesters, as journalists were not allowed to attend the negotiations. The protest remains until the farmers see the final text of the memorandum.
"The worry is that everything will end and nothing will happen. They will pay us an aid they promised to pay us two months ago. The rest are just promises," said vegetable grower Dimitar Gabrovski.
"We are waiting to sign the memorandum. Tractors and agricultural equipment remains here on standby. If we are lied to, we will go to key intersections and then there will be no turning back," added Ventsislav Mitkov from the protesters' initiative committee.
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