The demands of the farmers will be taken into account and “we are in constant dialogue with the agricultural organizations”, said the Minister of Agriculture, Rural Development and Environment Maria Panagiotou, after receiving at the Presidential Palace, a memorandum from the agricultural organizations with their requests to given to the President of the Republic Nikos Christodoulidis.
After receiving the memorandum, the Minister of Agriculture invited the agricultural organizations, which accepted, to meet at 8.00 on Friday morning at the Ministry of Agriculture to discuss the demands of the farmers.
As a “Government, through its participation in the various EU institutions, we submit the positions of our farmers, the positions we have as the Republic of Cyprus, with the common goal of safeguarding the European farmer”, said Mrs. Panagiotou, adding that “the way which the Government of Nikos Christodoulidis is working on is not in theory”.
She mentioned that in her morning statements she has not said it theoretically that “we stand next to the farmers and march with them, but I say it, having a specific signpost that has determined the governance program for us and it is something that the President of the Republic has requested ».
“Together with the Ministry of Agriculture and agricultural organizations, we are working to jointly submit our proposals to see how we increase the participation of the primary sector in the country’s GDP, which is currently at 1.8%,” he underlined.
She mentioned that this is a common goal, it is something we do together and we walk together”, while addressing the agricultural organizations, Mrs. Panagiotou said that she is glad to have the agricultural organizations by her side because they are not only standing in theory, as she said, “but they are standing and in practice and working together to improve what we have in front of us for the primary sector.’
The Minister of Agriculture said that the Republic of Cyprus is making use of the financial tools, which the EU gives us “both through the hectare measures and also through the environmental ones, to create the infrastructures that will improve the agricultural sector”.
Asked to comment on today’s farmers’ protests, Ms. Panagiotou said that “the European Commission has already made statements” and the Republic of Cyprus had already requested and submitted its views” and added that she is going to the EU Council of Ministers at the end of February ” to see how we simplify matters relating to the Common Agricultural Policy’.
“We expect the Commission to explain to us what was submitted and how we proceed with the next steps with plant protection products,” he said and added that “the basic directive on those that are harmful to the citizen and do not ensure the safety of the products still remain there”.
“We are not moving away from our desire for agricultural products to be insured and of high quality,” he added.
Asked to comment on the farmers’ request that subsidies not be taxed, the Minister said that in this context of the cooperation and discussion that the Government has with the organizations “we listen to the requests of the agricultural organizations” and added that the Republic of Cyprus gives for the new entrants farmers a lump sum of up to 50,000 euros “which is very important”.
“Discussing it with her EU counterparts, she said, ‘this is already seen as something very important, so our focus on supporting the primary sector is already in place.’
Handing over symbolic sheaves to the Minister, the General Secretary of EKA, Panikos Hambas said that the farmers have an anger and indignation because there is no care that should have been provided by the European Commission and added that “without these sheaves, Cyprus cannot feed the her people”.
Mr. Habas expressed the belief that the President of the Republic “will put forward the demands of the Cypriot farmers more vigorously because they are different from the Northern” farmers of the EU.
“We should support our production because we are working in an environment where we are now accepting the climate crisis with 45 degrees Celsius”, he said and added that “if the plant protection regulation was working right now as it is, citrus farming, fruit growing and in general everything related to the tree would not exist at this moment.”
He said that we must have a green development that focuses on the farmer and the consumer and not monopolies to import from third countries products with dubious use of pesticides and even carcinogens.
Addressing the Minister of Agriculture, PEK Secretary General Christos Papapetrou said that the farmers’ memos are what they sent to the President of the European Commission and added that they are not against making practices more environmentally friendly.
“The environment is the farmers who maintain and develop it, but we cannot go from one moment to another without giving us time credit, to train us”, he said and added that since last year the agricultural organizations have been asking “alternative solutions but in the field and not in theory”.
He also said that “any costs cannot be borne by us”.
After thanking the Minister for her statement that she is on the side of the farmers and not against them, the President of the Pangyprian Organization of Wheat Producers and President of the Panagrotic Kyriakos Kailas said that the agricultural organizations have received from the Minister “a positive dynamic to resolve the years problems”.
“The position of the President of the Republic was clear and he wanted to increase the exports of Cypriot products”, he said and added that “we should work to enable the Cypriot farmer to remain in the place where he was born and nurtured generations and generations”.
The General Secretary of the Panagrotic Church Tasos Yipanis said that today’s event of the farmers “was primarily towards the European institutions for the reason that we consider that the European institutions are the ones that institute, make the directives and regulations that govern the member states and bind them”. adding that we are asking for a change in these regulations and directives to untie Cyprus’ hands so that it can stand in practice and financially support the sectors and not only”.
He cited as an example the statement of the Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis that “subsidies given to farmers will not be taxed” and added that “whatever income the Cypriot farmer gets, the state gives him in one pocket and comes from the other and takes as taxation”.
The General Secretary of the New Agrarian Movement Takis Christodoulou said that their stress and anxiety “is that after the European elections some circles of the monopolies may bring back these proposals” and added that “the agreement between the EU and Latin American countries carries too many risks ».
He said the Amazon rainforest provides 37% of the planet’s oxygen, adding that Brazilians burned the forest to create pastures for cattle to export to Europe.
“Imagine if we give them the incentive that they will supply the EU with their production”, he said and added that this will have the effect of drying up forests and rivers.
Mr. Christodoulou said that the risk is that a specific company with genetically modified organisms will come to provide an alternative and added that this company has visited Ukraine “to do fast cultivation with yield” and wondered “if we want a company that will control his diet planet”.
Source: KYPE
