Cypriot farmers demonstrate as part of a Europe-wide protest against subsidy cuts and trade agreements
Cypriot farmers demonstrate as part of a Europe-wide protest against subsidy cuts and trade agreements
Farmers from all over Cyprus protested in front of the presidential palace in Nicosia on Thursday against political decisions that they believe threaten agriculture in the EU and on the island. The action was part of a coordinated mobilisation of farmers' associations across Europe, which took place simultaneously in many capitals and in Brussels.
Representatives of six Cypriot agricultural organisations – including PEK, EKA, Panagrotikos, Nea Agrotiki Kinisi and Euroagrotikos as well as the Pancyprian Grain Producers Organisation – handed over a joint memorandum to Andreas Gregoriou, Secretary General of the Ministry of Agriculture, on behalf of President Nikos Christodoulides. Afterwards, the farmers moved with tractors in the direction of the "House of Europe" to hand over their demands to the EU representatives.
Background: Why farmers are taking to the streets
The protests have local and European reasons:
1. Urgent economic problems on the ground
- Farmers demand the immediate activation of measure 23 of the current EU agricultural plan (CAP 2023–2027)to compensate for financial losses due to the ongoing drought and extreme weather conditions in 2025 and to ensure the solvency of the farms.
- They criticise massive bureaucracy and delaying problems, for example at the Land Office, where applications for the lease of state land have been unprocessed for years
- to allow all professional farmers, regardless of refugee or ownership status, to use agricultural land, including Turkish Cypriot parcels of land.
2. European agricultural policy and international trade agreements
At the EU level, farmers are calling for
- a strong and well-financed Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) programme after 2027, whose budget will not be devalued inflationarily.
- Fair trade conditions, including stricter controls on imports from Ukraine and a revision of the EU-Morocco agreement, as well as the end of zero tariffs on basic foodstuffs with the US.
- The postponement of the inclusion of fertilizers in the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM), which is to take effect from January 2026, because the additional costs would not be affordable for farmers.
In addition, they strictly reject the planned trade agreement with the Mercosur states (Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay), as they believe it would lead to unfair competition and loss of income for European producers.
Context: European farmers' protests 2025
The protests in Cyprus are not an isolated event, but part of a larger wave of unrest in the EU, as farmers in many member states increasingly demonstrate against planned cuts in CAP funding, rising production costs and increasing pressure from cheap imports.
- Thousands of farmers from several EU countries gathered in Brussels, blocked roads with tractors and challenged EU policy. In
- other countries, such as Belgium and France, farmers have also protested loudly against the Mercosur trade pact and the prospect of falling prices for agricultural products, which often led to confrontations with the police and further exacerbated tensions between farmers and authorities.
- This protest movement follows on from the broader EU farmers' protests since 2023/24, which criticised the handling of climate policy, fertiliser regulation, diesel subsidies and non-EU imports, among other things.
Voices from politics and agriculture
While Agriculture Minister Maria Panayiotou stressed that a strong and fair agricultural policy is in Europe's interest, the farmers' leaders criticised the previous proposals as insufficient and warned that without clear political answers, the existence of peasant agriculture would be in danger.
Summary: The protest of the Cypriot farmers is an expression of deep displeasure with EU agricultural policy, trade agreements and structural problems in the agricultural sector. It is directly linked to a broader movement in the EU calling for a fundamental reorientation of agricultural and trade policy.
Author: MF editorial team
Sources: REUTERS / POLITIS / facebook
Author: MF editorial team
Sources: REUTERS / POLITIS / facebook
