A group of farmers in Raca, near Kragujevac, blocked a central town road on Tuesday morning and then continued their protest inside the municipal administration building.
The farmers occupied the municipal administration building at around 7 am, saying they will not leave until their demands are met, while municipal head Branko Radosavljevic claims that the Finance Ministry has been contacted in an attempt to find a solution.
Farmers in Raca have been protesting since January 30, demanding that the local property tax, which has gone up by 60 percent, be reverted to last year’s level. The farmers are also calling for the resignation of the entire municipal leadership.
Head of the Serbian Farmers’ Movement Milan Milosevic told Nova S TV that they will stay in the building for the next few days, and then decide on the next steps for their protest.
“We have been on the streets for sixteen days, this is our house, our building. We will stay in the municipal administration building until our demands are met,” said Milosevic, adding that the local authorities need to understand that they “live off the farmers” and are funded by the farmers’ contributions and tax payments.
“We are just asking them to do their job,” Milosevic said.
Raca municipal head Branko Radosavljevic told TV Nova that the municipality has “done everything possible and shown good faith in responding to the farmers’ proposals.”
He added that after the previous week’s meetings, they have contacted the Finance Ministry to find a solution.
Regarding the demand for resignations, Radosavljevic said he thinks the “resignations are a political issue, and the farmers in our municipality are less interested in them than in finding solutions to their other demands.”