Farmers and truckers allowed to protest in Bucharest for three days

The mayor of Bucharest, Nicusor Dan, recently announced that he approved a protest of truckers and farmers in the capital city. The protest, which will last three days, will take place without impacting traffic.

Roughly 5,000 people, 100 tractors, and 100 trucks are expected in Bucharest on Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday, January 21 to 23, in Constitutiei Square, in front of the Parliament Palace. The organizers of the protest reportedly wanted to bring ten times as many people.

Dominic Fritz, the mayor of Timisoara, a major city in western Romania, also announced that the local authorities decided to authorize a farmers' protest in the city center. "The organizers only need to get the permit from the Traffic Police to reach the central area. I hope that the discussions between the organizers and the Police will find the best solutions both for respecting the rights of the protesters and for the safety of the citizens," the mayor said.

The protests are set to take place even though Romanian prime minister Marcel Ciolacu recently met with representatives of the transport sector to discuss the measures taken in response to their demands.

“It is clear that the protests were justified,” Ciolacu said, cited by Biziday.

He also announced a series of measures agreed with the protesting farmers and transporters and approved by the government.

“Regarding the farmers, we have several projects. We are providing direct support of EUR 100 per hectare to cultivators in the plant sector, to compensate for losses suffered due to the war in Ukraine, for crops established in the fall of 2022. The compensation for each agricultural enterprise cannot exceed EUR 280,000. We estimate over 162,000 beneficiaries and a financial effort of over EUR 250 million," the prime minister said on Thursday, January 18.

The state will also only require B and B1 driving licenses or equivalents to operate tractors. Moreover, agricultural machinery with be exempted from registration and periodic technical reviews. Certain technical inspections will be performed in the field by mobile teams, the prime minister deeming it a reasonable request.

Farmers and truckers have been protesting in Romania for over a week, on the ring road of Bucharest and other major cities across the country. They recently