A group of farmers from Raca, central Serbia, spent the night inside the municipal administration building that they occupied on Tuesday, after blocking in protest the town’s main road.
Speaking to N1 on Wednesday morning, the farmers said that they were doing well, that the night had passed peacefully, but expressed their surprise at what they had witnessed regarding how the municipality functions.
“Look, it’s past 8 am, and more than half of them haven’t shown up for work. So we are wondering why we are paying all the taxes and contributions if they are getting paid yet they’re not doing their jobs,” said farmer Milan Milosevic.
Farmers from the Raca municipality near the city of Kragujevac decided to escalate their weeks-long protest, voicing discontent over the 60 percent increase in the local property tax. They left their tractors outside the municipal administration building and occupied it on Tuesday morning, declaring that they would stay there day and night until their demands were met, including the resignation of the entire municipal leadership.
Milosevic said he has no idea why over half of the staff failed to show up for work on Wednesday morning, adding: “Maybe they are embarrassed. We tried to ask the municipal head, but he has locked himself up in his office.”
Raca municipal head Branko Radosavljevic said that “some solutions” were offered to the Raca farmers, but that they rejected them. He also said the resignations were a new demand, added to the initial demand for the taxes to be reduced and reverted to last year’s level.
