A farmer displaying the slogan “We must never forget that it is we farmers who produce the food” on his tractor, during a demonstration against the agricultural policy of Olaf Scholz’s government. Photo taken on January 8, 2024 in Ludwigsburg (southern Germany) (AFP/THOMAS KIENZLE)
German farmers began a week of protest on Monday against the agricultural policy of Olaf Scholz’s government, notably by sending convoys of tractors to block several highway entrances throughout the country.
The mobilization at the call of the German Farmers’ Union (DBV) is widespread: the authorities reported severe disruptions to road traffic early in the morning in almost all German regions, from Baden-Württemberg and Bavaria to the south, passing through the most populous state in Germany, North Rhine-Westphalia to the north of the country.
In Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, all motorway entrances were blocked, said police in Rostock (north-east).
The first tractor convoys entered the metropolises of Hamburg and Bremen in the north, partly paralyzing traffic. In Cologne (west) the local police reported a “significantly” larger gathering than expected. Some 500 tractors arrived in town, compared to 120 announced by farmers
In Berlin, the tractors took up position in the heart of the capital, near the Brandenburg Gate.
Farmers’ anger flared following the government’s decision to cut subsidies to the sector due to a call to order from constitutional judges over Germany’s strict budgetary rules.
Faced with protests, the government softened its plans on Thursday: the tax advantage granted on the quantities of diesel consumed will thus be phased out gradually until 2026 and not all at once, as initially planned.
In addition, the vehicle tax advantage for forestry and agriculture will be maintained.
A compromise deemed insufficient by the profession.
Finance Minister Christian Lindner sharply criticized on Saturday the form of the protests in a sector that he also considers already “highly subsidized” and considered the blockade actions “disproportionate”.
Interior Minister Nancy Faeser (Social Democrat) urged farmers not to block ambulance lanes.
“We must assume that right-wing extremists are infiltrating demonstrations” in order “to attack the state and defame certain political leaders,” she also told the Rheinische Post newspaper on Sunday.
Thursday evening, around thirty angry farmers attacked Economy Minister Robert Habeck (Greens), preventing the ferry he was on from docking as he returned from a few days’ vacation on Hallig Hooge, a tourist island in the North Sea.
© 2024 AFP
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