Greek prime minister George Papandreou demanded on February 1 2010 that Greek farmers should end their blockades on the border with Bulgaria and along major thoroughfares in the country.

Apart from the pressure and discontent emanating from Bulgaria, the call was prompted by the possibility of European Commission sanctions and the inconveniences caused within Greece, where hotel owners have reportedly flooded the courts with lawsuits against the action which has crippled their trade over the past three weeks.

The hotel owners are calling for action to be taken against "all those responsible for the massive losses in revenue incurred because of transport disruptions".

"There is no more scope for roadblocks," Papandreou said, quoted by Greek daily Kathimerini on February 2.

There was no evidence to suggest however that there would be a firm action of any sort from the Greek authorities to force the farmers’ tractors off the roads.

Representatives from the protesting farmers will hold talks amongst themselves on February 2 in the regions of Thessaly and Macedonia as to how to proceed, Kathimerini said.

Protesting Greek farmers resumed their total border blockade at 11pm on February 2. The border will be shut for all traffic, lorries and private vehicles, Bulgarian media reported.

There were about 300 lorries queuing at the border in the early afternoon of February 2, forming a line of more than five km, the Bulgarian Interior Ministry was quoted as saying by Dnevnik.

Koulata and Ilinden checkpoints were shut to all traffic at 11pm for an undisclosed period of time. Border police have said that the blockade was likely to be lifted at 3pm, but that remained uncertain. There was still no information if the Captain Petko Voivoda and Zlatograd checkpoints would also be closed.

Greek farmers have said they would not lift the blockade unless their demands were met.

The demands include "the immediate disbursement of compensation for lost income and the announcement of minimum prices for crops; the protection of domestic agricultural produce from the competition posed by foreign imports; the reduction of rising production costs through the abolition of value-added tax on agricultural supplies and machinery and the scrapping of tax on fuel; the imposition of a three-year freeze on the repayment of farmers’ loans; and the reduction of the minimum retirement age to 60 for men and 55 for women".