Dairy farmers from the north of the country are holding protests on Wednesday against what they describe as uncontrolled import of dairy inputs which threaten their livelihood, and for life-saving measures in Bulgarian farming. The protests caused brief disruptions of traffic across the Danube between Bulgaria and Romania.

In the presence of Agriculture and Foods Minister Valeri Tsvetanov, some 300 farmers closed for several minutes the road to the Oryahovo-Bechet ferry service before police interfered to restore traffic. The protest continued at the side of the road but drivers continue to experience difficulties as they pass through.

Before going ahead with the road blockade, the farmers had an hour's meeting with the Agriculture Minister. He said he finds their demands well-grounded and has already taken steps to protect their interests: he has submitted to Parliament's agriculture committee a motion for setting up a food safety agency and work is underway on the reintroduction of a state standard for the production of traditional dairy and meat products. In another step, supermarkets have been asked to display on separate shelves products which contain milk and meat substitutes.

He urged the farmers not to disturb other people's work while they protest.

The protest leaders said there would be no protests on Thursday. They give Parliament a week to decide on their demands.

Up the Danube to the West, some 20-25 farmers gathered in the area of the Vidin-Calafat ferry service but traffic remained undisturbed. They remained there for three hours until 3 in the afternoon, closed the access road to the ferry for 10 minutes and sang patriotic songs.

Down the river to the East, farmers from Rousse, Silistra, Dobrich, Popovo and Turgovishte rallied on the road to Dounav Most, the only bridge linking Bulgaria and Romania across the Danube. Cars and buses are allowed to freely cross the Danube but the bridge is closed to trucks every other hour. There has been no disturbance of public order.

The farmers say that their protest will continue at the same location on a daily basis until Friday.

Truck drivers are stopped by the Romanian border authorities at Giurgiu to prevent having too many vehicles on the bridge at the same time. Truck drivers told reporters that they support the ligitimate demands of the protesting farmers.

Members of the leadership of an association of Romanian livestock farmers were in Rousse to show support for their protesting Bulgarian counterparts. Caras Costel of the Romanian association said that a similar blockade threatens the Romanian-Hungarian border in March and that a protocol on that has already been signed.

The protests are covered by the Romanian press.

An alternative protest held on the road between the southern towns of Stara Zagora and Haskovo by a rival association of animal husbandry, brought together farmers from all over Southern Bulgaria. The leader of the association, Boiko Sinapov, urged the Agriculture Minister to resign but none of the protesters supported his call. The leader of a local association of dairy farmers in Stara Zagora, Dinko Gospidinov, said while they support the demands of Sinapov's association, they do not think this is the right time for resignations as resignation would only hold back the efforts to solve the problems.

At the end of the rally, Boiko Sinapov said he wants to meet with the Prime Minister and if they don't get a confirmation for a meeting by Friday, they would go ahead with plans to block Petoluchkata, a major junction near Sliven on the main road between Sofia and Bourgas on the Black Sea.

Sinapov has said earlier that his association distances itself from the organization of the protesting farmers in the North by demanding the resignation of the Agriculture Minister who, in his view, is personally responsible for the delayed launch of a livestock identification system which is a key instrument in the distribution of payments to farmers.

Source: BTA