Finland Times

Farmers from different parts of Finland converged in the capital city, aiming to draw public attention to their financial difficulties, which have been described by the Central Organization of Farmers and Forest Owners (MTK) as "catastrophic".

The farmers and their tractors arrived in downtown Helsinki in the morning, and went on a demonstration on the Senate Square until 2:00 p.m. The demonstrators came from as far away as Oulu.

After the square filled with tractors, demonstrators spread to Kaisaniemi Park and Unioninkatu.

According to Helsinki police, there were a few thousand demonstrators in the square.

Pekka Höök of the Helsinki police said that the demonstration was peaceful.

"We knew in advance the number of participants, and the drivers were able to park their tractors," said Pekka Höök.

The possibility of traffic congestion was known in advance, and Höök estimated that there were fewer private motorists than usual for a normal Friday.

"People knew [about the demonstration], so they left their cars at home."

After the demonstration, the tractors took to the main roads, including Vihdintie, Vanha Turuntie and Vanha Lahdentie.

According to MTK, organizer of the event, more than 3,000 farmers and 600 tractors participated in the demonstration.

Prime Minister Juha Sipilä  and Minister of Agriculture and Environment Kimmo Tiilikainen appeared at the event and gave their speeches.

Sipilä considered that the most important thing is to timely pay subsidies to farmers. He also called on citizens to eat more domestic food.

In response to criticism regarding the subsidy scheme, Tiilikainen said the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry will take stricter supervision over the Agency for Rural Affairs, and appoint a new director to take responsibility for the issues related to subsidies for farmers.

The duty of current person in charge of the issues is terminated.

Police said that the protest went peacefully, despite some traffic disruptions, which occurred in Helsinki in the morning and afternoon when the tractors rolled into and moved out of the city.

Similar protests were held in other places of Finland on Friday.

MTK said in a press release that agricultural income of Finnish farmers has declined the fastest in the EU during the last few years.

The Natural Resources Institute of Finland (LUKE) has estimated that Finnish farmers lost about 40 percent of their incomes in 2015, compared to the previous year.

The plight of Finnish farmers has been caused by the EU sanctions against Russia and the countermeasures, as well as the declining prices of agricultural products. Furthermore, the delay in handing out the EU subsidies added to their woes.