Dozens of Romanian farmers and truck drivers took part in a protest against the high costs for business, blocking access to a border crossing with Ukraine and protesting on the outskirts of the capital Bucharest, reports BGNES.
Farmers and transporters began protesting eight days ago, blocking highways and slowing traffic with convoys of tractors and trucks flying Romanian flags.
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The protests are directed against the high price of diesel, insurance tariffs, EU measures to protect the environment and pressure on the domestic market by imported Ukrainian agricultural goods.
“We will continue to protest until we see the first approved law that imposes solutions to as many of the problems we have identified as possible,” said a local protest leader.
The protests are not centrally coordinated, hampering negotiations with the coalition government, with local, parliamentary, presidential and European elections coming up in Romania this year.
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Agriculture Minister Florin Barbou and 10 farmers’ associations announced they had reached an agreement on a number of demands, setting clear deadlines for their implementation, but protests continued. The carriers are still negotiating with the ministries of transport and finance.
Protesters want a moratorium on loan repayments, faster payment of subsidies and separate lines at border crossings and the Black Sea port of Constanta for EU trucks and trucks from Ukraine.
Source bgnes
2024-01-17 20:50:37
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