Following the initiatives of the Greek Minister of Rural Development and Food Kostas Tsiaras in the EU for the activation of mechanisms that will also ensure compensation from European funds for Greek farmers whose animals died of the goat and sheep plague, the European Commissioner for Health and Food Safety Stella Kyriakidou telephoned Tsiaras on Friday

Tsiaras briefed the European Commissioner on the epidemiological developments in relation to the small ruminants’ plague in Greece, as well as on the actions of the ministry and the regions’ veterinarian services for the implementation of the European regulation for the restriction and eradication of the plague.

The minister also repeated the request he made in his letter, both to the Commissioner and to his 26 EU counterparts, but also to the Commissioner for Agriculture and Fisheries, Janus Wojciechovski, where he noted that it was imperative to provide EU financial assistance not only to compensate farmers with the highest possible amount for the loss of each animal, but also to compensate them for the loss of their income.

Kyriakidou said she is on Greece’s side and that the Commission will consider all possibilities for finding resources, while respecting European rules. She added that the Commission’s concern is the implementation of the biosecurity rules for the protection of consumers and livestock, which, as she acknowledged, Greece is already implementing in application of the Regulation 687/2020.