Farmers from Baranja in eastern Croatia began a peaceful protest at noon on Wednesday, as announced, by parking a dozen tractors on a road in Ceminac.
In a statement distributed to the press, they say they want to join in a request for the resignation of Agriculture Minister Tihomir Jakovina, claiming he has done nothing for Croatian agriculture and farmers.
The farmers also demand the payment of all incentives for last year on par to the amount that was paid in 2011. They claim to be the targets of trade lobbies, which they say are interested only in profit, while producers and consumers are not protected.
These are the reasons the farmers also demand to meet with Prime Minister Zoran Milanovic.
A farmers' association official told the media the protest had begun at three locations in Osijek-Baranja and Brod-Posavina counties, at one in Virovitica-Podravina and one in Vukovar-Srijem counties.
He said that farmers for now were protesting peacefully by gathering and parking their tractors alongside roads and that their next steps would depend on how the government and the Agriculture Ministry responded to their demands.
