Farmers across Serbia blocked dozens of roads and intersections on February 25 in an escalation of nationwide protests over low purchase prices and unpaid milk deliveries.

Protesting farmers said they planned several-hour blockades at about 80 main, regional and local roads on February 25, Danas reported, marking the 14th day of demonstrations that began in the dairy sector and have since spread to crop, fruit and vegetable producers. Tractors remained stationed on the Ibar Highway, a key route linking Belgrade with Montenegro and Kosovo.

Farmers’ associations said they would continue to “radicalise” protests until four demands sent to the agriculture ministry are met, including restrictions on imports of milk, meat, fruit and vegetables and better prices for domestic products. They also announced they were ending dialogue with Agriculture Minister Dragan Glamocic, accusing him of making insulting statements about farmers, Vreme reported.

The ministry has imposed surcharges on imported milk powder while removing levies on piglet imports, and said it would hold online consultations with the European Commission on February 26 about possible duties on certain milk and dairy imports. Glamocic said groups invited to talks had refused to attend, according to state broadcaster RTS.

In a show of support for domestic farmers, retail chain Lidl Serbia announced on February 25 that it plans to purchase around one million liters of milk from local producers, aiming to provide additional support to the Serbian dairy industry.

Agro-economic analyst Žarko Galetin told Biznis.rs on February 24 that a blanket import ban would be difficult because of Belgrade’s obligations under its trade framework with the European Union, which requires market-opening commitments.

“We can unilaterally ban imports, but then we lose access to the European market of 450mn consumers as well as EU funds and grants,” he said, adding that temporary measures such as quotas or short-term levies might still be negotiated in cases of market disruption.

Galetin said long-term stability would depend on improving competitiveness and quality standards in Serbia’s dairy sector, noting EU producers benefit from subsidies that make them more competitive than local farmers. He added that progress toward EU membership could eventually grant Serbia access to larger agricultural funds similar to those used by Croatia.

He warned that rebuilding trust between farmers and authorities would be crucial to resolving the standoff, which he said began amid “mutual mistrust,” but expressed hope a compromise could be reached.