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Farmers Give Ultimatum to Milanović, Announce March on Zagreb

Representatives of farmers’ associations decided at today’s meeting to completely block traffic in Croatia, which began at 4 PM. They have given Prime Minister Zoran Milanović until 6 PM to respond to their request for a meeting within 24 hours, or they threaten to head towards Zagreb with tractors tomorrow.

Representatives of agricultural associations, who have been organizing protests across the continental part of Croatia for the tenth day, met in Retkovci near Vinkovci, where they decided to start blocking all roads in the country from 4 PM.

We are giving Prime Minister Zoran Milanović until 6 PM to indicate whether he intends to meet with us and where that meeting will take place, in Slavonia or Zagreb, and then we ask him to formulate that meeting within the next 24 hours. Otherwise, tomorrow at 6 PM, we will all head towards Zagreb with tractors, said Zvonko Pipić, president of the Association of Farmers of Virovitica-Podravina County, on behalf of all present at the meeting.

He also announced that during the evening or at the latest tomorrow morning, dissatisfied agricultural producers from the areas of Međimurje, Krapina-Zagorje, and Varaždin counties would join the protests, thereby expanding the protests to a total of eleven continental counties. He reported that there are about 3,000, and possibly 4,000 tractors at the protest points.

The president of the Croatian Farmers’ Union (SHS), Tomislav Pokrovac, stated that these are not exclusively protests of farmers, but of all Croatian citizens affected by the negligence and misunderstanding of the ruling elites in Croatia.

After the meeting, it was confirmed that tomorrow morning, women from dissatisfied agricultural producers should set out on foot from Đakovo to Zagreb, dressed in black to draw attention to the “tragedy that is looming over their families.”

Farmers, dissatisfied with the state of agriculture, are demanding the payment of remaining subsidies, and according to data presented by representatives of HPK, there are still over 450 million kuna unpaid. Farmers are also dissatisfied with the purchase price of wheat at 1.05 kuna per kilogram, believing that this price should not be lower than 1.35 kuna.

The protesters also called on all those who live from agriculture to join them.