Milk Producers Protest in Belgrade (BETAPHOTO/AMIR HAMZAGIC)
After failed talks with the government, Serbia’s disgruntled farmers have decided to radicalize their protests as of Feb. 24 – a decision made by the representatives of 32 farmers’ associations during the Feb. 21 evening blockade of the Ibarska Highway in Mrcajevci, near Cacak.
Said radicalization, they announced, will involve the simultaneous blocking of numerous regional and local highways and thoroughfares across the country.
The meeting in Mrcajevci was the largest so far held by Serbian farmers’ associations, BETA was told by Predrag Veljkovic, a member of the Dairy Farmers’ Association of Sumadija and the Morava Valley.
Veljkovic also stated that the authorities are strongly pressuring the protestors.
“The Security and Information Agency (BIA) is still threatening the farmers blocking the roads but we will endure,” Veljkovic concluded.
Dissatisfied with the overall state of Serbian agriculture, farmers began protesting with a blockade of the Ibarska Highway on Feb. 11. The obstruction was staged by two associations – Sajkaca from Cacak and the Dairy Farmers’ Association of Sumadija and the Morava Valley, from Kraljevo – only to quickly spread to other cities and towns in the country.
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