Meriç farmers call on government to halt livestock culls and take urgent action
Farmers and livestock producers in the Meriç (Evros) region are calling on the Greek government to take urgent measures to protect livestock and strengthen efforts against animal diseases, including an end to mass culling linked to sheep and goat pox and full compensation for affected producers.
The Meriç Federation of Agricultural Associations (Enotita) criticised the government’s current approach to animal disease control, arguing that existing measures have placed thousands of livestock businesses under severe economic pressure.
In a statement, the federation claimed that livestock producers have been left without sufficient preventive and protective measures against animal diseases for more than two years. It also criticised the lack of vaccination against sheep and goat pox, pointing to France, Romania and Cyprus as countries where vaccination has been used to protect livestock.
FEDERATION WARNS OVER SEROLOGICAL TESTING PROGRAMME
The federation also raised concerns over a new blood-testing, or serological testing, programme it says is being prepared by the Greek government and the European Union.
According to the federation, detecting antibodies in livestock through the programme could potentially lead to animals being sent for slaughter. It warned that such a policy could place many livestock-farming families in serious financial difficulty.
The organisation also claimed that producers could risk losing access to compensation and facing legal investigations in connection with allegations of unauthorised vaccination or concealing disease outbreaks.
The federation called on livestock farmers to organise collectively and said any attempt to cull herds as a result of serological testing should be rejected.
FARMERS SET OUT DEMANDS
The federation called on the government to:
- End threats and pressure against livestock farmers.
- Suspend the planned serological testing programme.
- Immediately introduce free vaccination programmes against sheep and goat pox and foot-and-mouth disease.
- Implement effective biosecurity measures.
- Provide 100% compensation for producers’ losses.
- Establish a fully state-funded programme to rebuild culled herds.
- Immediately pay outstanding compensation to affected livestock producers.
- Accelerate pending payments under basic agricultural support, compensatory payments, coupled support and the second instalment for young farmers.
The federation also called for the Greek government and the European Union to reassess their current animal-disease policies, arguing that vaccination, biosecurity and full compensation mechanisms should be strengthened to protect the livestock sector.
The claims and demands were made by the federation in its statement; no response from the Greek government or EU institutions was included in the material provided.
