Farmers stand fast on Crete, in Serres (UPDATES - Nikaia road block).

(From Athens News Agency)

Amid government appeals that they leave their tractors behind, farmers in Iraklio, Crete on Sunday disbanded their five-day road block at Linoperamata and arranged to meet at the island's port the same evening, in order to take their protest to the capital.

They plan to board ferries headed for Piraeus in private cars and agricultural vehicles, arriving on Monday morning for a protest demonstration outside the agricultural development and foods ministry, where they will also seek to have a meeting with the minister and present their demands.

From Athens, Deputy Interior Minister Christos Markoyiannakis appealed to Iraklio farmers to abandon their plans to bring their tractors to Athens, warning that it would result in traffic gridlock that would turn all of Attica against them.

"I have no right to say that someone does not have the right to make demands, but they must bear in mind, those that create these things, that they will cause a huge problem and bring the entire society of Attica prefecture against them. For this reason I am appealing that they come as individuals, as farmers, to protest and make demands but not with tractors, not cars, not agricultural vehicles," Markoyiannakis stressed.

In northeastern Serres at the opposite end of Greece, meanwhile, the tractor roadblock at the Promahonas border crossing with Bulgaria was still going strong as it entered its 14th day, with farmers there determined not to give in. The border remained closed apart for one hour after 6:30 in the morning, when trucks carrying perishable products were allowed through.

The ...