On Monday night, protesters blocked access to two Romanian ports and halted the flow of road traffic again.
They have been demonstrating for more than a week. On Monday, truck drivers and farmers once again took to the streets across Romania, after negotiations with the coalition government on tax cuts, increased subsidies and other demands failed to reach any agreements.
Long convoys of trucks and tractors disrupted traffic on the outskirts of the capital, Bucharest, and other cities across the European Union member state. This was the sixth consecutive day of demonstrations.
The farmers are demanding accelerated subsidy payments, compensation for losses caused by imports from neighboring Ukraine, and more government aid to cover fuel costs, among other demands. Truck drivers are demanding lower tax and insurance rates, and have complained of long waiting times at the border.
Meetings were held between protesters and the agriculture and transportation ministries over the weekend, but no agreements were reached. Protesters on Saturday also caused a brief blockade on the border with Ukraine in the country’s northeast, Ukrainian border authorities said on the Telegram app.
Prime Minister Marcel Ciolaco on Monday called for the “urgent drafting” of legislation to resolve the protesters’ complaints.
“We continue to negotiate in good faith with the protesters. “We are completely open to dialogue,” Ciulaku said during his meeting with ministers involved in negotiating with the protesters, according to a statement issued by his office.
The Alliance for Agriculture and Cooperation sent a document to the Ministry of Agriculture on Monday containing 15 demands ahead of the planned meeting between the parties later in the day.
A coalition representative said after Monday’s talks that the agriculture minister had agreed to many of the farmers’ requests and that the protests would “likely” be suspended. Before the meeting, the coalition threatened to “urgently initiate” steps to expand demonstrations if a series of deadlines were not met.
Romanian National Traffic Police advised drivers to avoid areas where protests are being held to help ease traffic flow.
