Greek farmers head for Athens protest

(ANSA-AFP) - ATHENS, FEB 20 - Hundreds of Greek farmers were heading to Athens on Tuesday to demand financial aid after the government consented to an orderly protest in the capital.
    Convoys of dozens of tractors escorted by traffic police were en route to the capital for the evening protest, TV footage showed.
    Additional farmers were travelling in by coach from agricultural areas such as the island of Crete. Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, who last week met protest leaders and made numerous concessions, on Monday called on the farmers to cause "as little disruption as possible". "I fully understand why our farmers want to hold a symbolic demonstration in the centre of Athens, coordinating with what has happened in all other European capitals," the conservative prime minister told Star TV. But he stressed that the government had "nothing more to give". The farmers began protesting last month, joining a wider movement that has seen tractors deployed to block roads or slow traffic in France, Germany, Italy, Poland and Spain, among other countries. (ANSA-AFP).