Television footage showed groups of farmers throwing stones at police and striking the vans blocking access to the ministry with wooden shepherds' crooks. Police responded with tear gas. The farmers are demanding the withdrawal of higher taxes and social insurance contributions, which they say are threatening their livelihoods. Greece has been forced to increase taxes and slash pensions over the last seven years under pressure from international creditors who bailed out the country from near bankruptcy in 2010.
Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2017