Athens – December 6, 2025 – Greek farmers escalated their nationwide protests on Friday, blocking the country’s main Athens-Lamia national highway with dozens of tractors and sealing the Promachonas border crossing with Bulgaria, stranding hundreds of trucks and bringing cross-border trade to a standstill.
The double blockade marks the most disruptive day yet in a campaign that began last month over delayed EU subsidies, soaring production costs, and the lingering fallout from a massive agricultural fraud scandal that cost Greece a record €392 million fine from Brussels.
In central Greece, more than 50 tractors lined up in both directions on the Athens-Lamia highway near Chalkida, halting traffic for hours. Farmers waved banners reading “No money, no food” and vowed to keep the road closed until the government releases the payments they say are owed.
Earlier in the day, farmers from the northern region of Serres evaded police checkpoints by driving across fields to reach the Promachonas crossing — Greece’s busiest land link with Bulgaria. By midday, a convoy of over 100 vehicles had completely sealed the border, creating kilometres-long queues on both sides of the frontier.
In Viotia, farmers announced an even larger blockade of the national highway for Sunday, while unions in western and eastern Phthiotis confirmed tractor convoys will converge on Larissa on Saturday.
Tensions flared in Thessaloniki on Friday afternoon when several hundred farmers tried to reach the city’s airport junction. Riot police deployed barriers and tear gas to prevent the tractors from advancing, leading to brief scuffles and minor injuries.
At the heart of the protests is an estimated €600 million shortfall in EU agricultural subsidies and compensation payments that farmers say has left thousands on the brink of ruin. Many blame the freeze on sweeping audits triggered by years of systemic fraud at the now-dissolved state payments agency OPEKEPE.
In June, the European Commission imposed a €392 million penalty on Greece — the largest ever in a Common Agricultural Policy case — after auditors uncovered fictitious pastures, fake farming activities, and widespread abuse of EU funds dating back to 2016. OPEKEPE was officially shut down in May after prosecutors charged more than 100 individuals, including former officials and private contractors.
Honest farmers insist they are being collectively punished for the actions of a few. They say the blanket checks have delayed or blocked legitimate claims, leaving many unable to cover fuel, fertiliser, or loan repayments.
Production costs have also skyrocketed: fertiliser prices are up more than 40 % since the start of the Ukraine war, while energy and labour expenses continue to climb. In flood-ravaged Thessaly, thousands are still waiting for promised compensation two years after storms Daniel and Elias destroyed crops and livestock.
Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis has promised an additional €500 million in aid for 2025 and insisted that most legitimate payments will be processed by the end of the year. However, he has repeatedly urged farmers to avoid “extreme actions” that harm the wider economy.
Public sympathy appears to be growing. Recent polls show more than 60 % of Greeks support the farmers’ demands, and opposition parties have accused the government of mishandling both the fraud scandal and the subsequent payment crisis.
With new blockades already scheduled for the weekend and no immediate breakthrough in sight, the protests that began as a rural grievance are rapidly turning into a major political challenge for the centre-right government.
