Police are guarding the house of Agriculture Minister Tihomir Jakovina in Bukovlje near Slavonski Brod due to tips about possible incidents during ongoing farmers' protests, local police spokeswoman Kata Nujic told the press on Friday, stressing that the minister had received no threats.
According to unofficial reporters, one of the protesters has threatened to "dump feces" outside the minister's house.
Nujic said police were keeping an eye on the situation and that there had been no problems. She denied that riot police were outside the minister's house, saying two regular officers were there.
Farmers' associations demand that Jakovina resign, claiming he has done nothing for Croatia's agriculture. Unhappy that no agreement was reached at the Agriculture Ministry on Thursday, farmers from the Slavonia region are blocking roads with their tractors, saying they will not move from the roads, despite police claims that their protest was not announced in time.
The president of the Croatian Farmers Trade Union, Tomislav Pokrovac, told reporters the Union was no longer interested in any negotiations with Jakovina, only with Prime Minister Zoran Milanovic. He invited him to come to one of the road blocks and talk with the farmers, and said 250 farmers were protesting at several locations in Vukovar-Srijem County.
The president of the Brod-Posavina County Chamber of Commerce, Antun Vrkljan, said farmers expected Jakovina, Milanovic and Finance Minister Slavko Linic to take part in the continuation of negotiations on Monday because the situation in agriculture had never been worse.
About 200 farmers are protesting in Brod-Posavina County, blocking state and county roads with 150 tractors at three locations.
