Greek Farmers Begin Protest Against Austerity Reforms

Dozens of farmers in northern Greece began positioning their tractors on highways to protest against the austerity reforms agreed by the government in exchange for financial assistance from its creditors, local media reported Wednesday.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Earlier this week, the Greek coordinating committee of farmers and stockbreeders announced that farmers would demonstrate on election day, scheduled for September 20.

The union leader Christos Gondias said the farmers would gather later in the day to decide on further action to protest pending tax increases and pension cuts, the ANA news agency reported.

In July, Greece's international creditors signed an agreement with the country's government, approving a third bailout package for Athens in exchange for highly unpopular austerity reforms.

In August, Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras resigned and called for snap elections to gain support for austerity reforms he backed to keep the country in the eurozone.