Livestock Farmers Protest Foot-and-Mouth Disease Handling

Livestock farmers gathered outside the Presidential Palace with a black coffin, protesting the Veterinary Services' handling of the foot-and-mouth disease situation. They expressed opposition to the mass killings of animals and the arrests of their colleagues.

The farmers placed a black coffin on the roof of the first vehicle in the motorcade. A three-member delegation submitted a memorandum to the Director-General of the Ministry of Agriculture, Andreas Grigoriou.

Christodoulos Christodoulou stated that they are demanding a halt to the killings before the 28 days of the second vaccination and complained about the EU's treatment of the occupied territories.

Speaking on behalf of the protesters, Mr. Christodoulou stressed the need to immediately stop the killings and spoke of unequal treatment in relation to the occupied territories.

Mr. Sotiris from Kofinou criticized the Government for exterminating livestock farming and demanded an end to the mass killing of animals.

Mamas Vasiliou stated that the animals on the farm in Troulloi were asymptomatic.

Paraskevas Loizou, 22, was arrested for sampling on his farm without consent.

Giannis Giagkou expressed doubts about the effectiveness of the vaccine.

Petros Panteli stated that his farm is healthy, but he has not been informed of the sampling results of a neighboring farm.

Spyros Hatzikyriakos stated that no veterinarian provides a document on the health status of animals based on chemical analyzes because "they are terrified."

Kostas Nikolaou called on the Minister of Agriculture to resign.