Farmers continue protests

N1

Some 80 farmers blocked Friday local roads in Subotica, dissatisfied farmers in Raca, near the city of Kragujevac, central Serbia, continue blocking traffic with their tractors, while farmers protesting outside the Vojvodina Parliament building for four days now blocked Friday a boulevard in the city Novi Sad.

One of the protestors in Subotica, Miroslav Matkovic, told N1 one that they are located outside the City Hall and that they have again asked to be received by the Mayor.

“He would not see us yesterday, we would like to visit him. We will continue the blockades and protest rides, like the ones in Novi Sad. We have joined them, our demands are the same as theirs,” said Matkovic.

Milan Milosevic, an organizer of the protest in Raca, near Kragujevac, where tractors are blocking traffic, said they will not let up and that they “will not move”.

Milosevic said they received support from their colleagues in the Jagodina and Batocina municipalities, adding that farmers’ protests in this part of Serbia will continue and maybe even radicalize.

Raca farmers submitted an official request asking their municipal council head to mediate in negotiations between them and Serbian Government representatives.

They are asking for the price of sunflower seeds to be 700 Euro per hectare, for the ban on exports of agricultural products to be lifted, for lower fuel prices, subsidies of 300 Euro per hectare of arable land and for the authorities to declare a natural disaster due to drought.

The slogan of the Raca farmers’ protest is “We will not die in silence”.

The farmers in Novi Sad, who have been protesting outside the Vojvodina Parliament building for four days, on Friday also blocked a downtown boulevard after their request for a meeting with a Serbian Government representative was not met.

Farmer Radoslav Adamovic told the media that a “radicalization” of the protests will follow, but did not elaborate.