Protests of farmers dissatisfied with reduction in grants spread to several more counties on Wednesday, with protesters blocking roads near Vinkovci, Donj Miholjac and Popovaca.
A representative of some 1,000 disgruntled farmers in Vinkovci, Tomislav Pokrovac, told reporters that the agricultural producers could not accept a 40-percent reduction in agricultural subventions. He accused the leaders of two farmers' associations -- Antun Laslo and Zeljko Mavrovic -- of letting the farmers down.
After two days of protesting, farmers in the Pozega area in eastern Croatia on Wednesday removed their tractors from the Pozega-Nasice road near the village of Ferovac as a token of goodwill and readiness to cooperate with the government.
Unless the Agriculture Ministry meets the farmers' demands, the protesters will head for Zagreb next week and the blockade of the roads will resume, a protest leader said.
Farmers demand the payment of a debt of HRK 205 million for 2008 and the payment of grants for 2009 by mid-March. They are also against the government's plan to cut agricultural grants for this year by 40 per cent.
Later on Wednesday, leaders of the ruling Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) and its junior coalition partner, the Croatian Peasant Party, met for talks in Zagreb.
After the meeting which revolved around anti-crisis measures, HDZ president Jadranka Kosor and HSS president Josip Friscic said they had also discussed farmers' protests.
Friscic told reporters that the ruling coalition was pursuing a single agricultural policy.
