At the big farmers’ demonstration in Berlin, Finance Minister Lindner tried to reach them with a clever speech. But some of the demonstrators boo him, he can hardly be heard. It wasn’t a liberation.
Addressing thousands of angry farmers is not exactly a feel-good appointment for a finance minister. The Brandenburg Gate is only one kilometer from Christian Lindners Workplace away, but on this cold afternoon his appearance becomes an away game.
Theresa Schmidt from the Rural Youth Federal Association spoke in front of Lindner – and showed him the yellow card.
(Photo: IMAGO/Marten Ronneburg)
Boos, horns and whistles form the carpet of noise against which the FDP leader speaks with increasing volume, sometimes even shouting. The previous speakers already received boos as soon as they asked farmers to listen to the prominent guest speaker. Farmers President Joachim Rukwied even interrupts Lindner after a few sentences and waves his arms reassuringly in front of the crowd. Vain. “Get out, get out,” chants at least part of the audience. The farmers are protesting because of the traffic light plans to cut off agricultural diesel aid. But for many people it has long been about more. In short: from their point of view, it is about decades of failed policies at the expense of the farmers.
It is precisely this mood that Lindner tries to capture. Although he remains tough on the matter, he still tries to show understanding and accommodation beyond the agricultural diesel and willingness to talk. “There should not and should not be a special sacrifice from agriculture, but only a fair contribution,” he says, pointing out that farmers receive nine billion euros in subsidies per year. But he doesn’t go on a confrontational course. Statements like those made at the FDP’s Epiphany meeting – “You’ve lost your way! Turn back!” – Lindner omits.
Actually, it’s hopeless for Lindner
Now he praises the peacefulness of the protests and that they are so different from those of the climate activists. By summoning common enemies, he apparently wants to increase the chances of finding open ears. He later uses this strategy again when he rails against citizens’ benefit recipients and asylum seekers. “It annoys me that I have to talk about cuts in front of you, hard-working people, while on the other side people are getting money for doing nothing.”
Lindner is actually embarking on a hopeless undertaking – he has already made it clear in advance that he does not want to comply with the farmers’ wishes. What makes matters worse is that he himself is not only a representative of the traffic light coalition, which many demonstrators hate, but was also part of the three-party group that decided on the cuts, along with Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Economics Minister Robert Habeck. But the traffic light has to show its face during these protests. Shortly before Christmas, Lindner canceled and instead Agriculture Minister Cem Özdemir spoke alone. Scholz seems to have had something else in mind today, so it was logical that the finance minister responsible for austerity faced the demonstrators.
The people in the audience at the Brandenburg Gate are angry and clearly fed up. Some guys seem less willing to engage in dialogue. For example, the one with a cigarette in the corner of his mouth who repeatedly lets his chainsaw – without a chain – whine. Or the one with the right-wing extremist tattoos. Or the one with the poster that says: “Abolish Politpack.” But there are also friendlier images. Pink balloons in the middle of the audience, poster slogans like “Together for sensible politics” or the man whose jacket says “fawn rescue”. Many posters show humor: “I’m so angry that I even painted a poster.” You know the saying from Fridays for Future demos. In between there are a lot of men and a few women, whose hearts the farmer’s president seems to be expressing when he shouts: “It can’t go on like this.”
Lindner highlights the successes of the protest: An originally planned vehicle tax for agricultural vehicles has already been overturned and the end of diesel aid has been extended to three years. With the unpleasant side effect for the traffic light coalition that this giving in did not diminish the anger of the farmers in the slightest. At the same time, Lindner appeals for understanding for his situation as finance minister. “I pay 40 billion euros in interest every year with your money. Taking on more and more debt would be irresponsible,” he says. “Many in politics want to take the easy route, i.e. increase taxes.” As expected, he rejects this – but he doesn’t say how he feels about an animal welfare tax like the Greens are calling for.
The thing about the horse stable gets a laugh
Lindner is an experienced campaign speaker and this skill suits him well here. He tries to break down the enemy image of farmers and divert attention from the issue of agricultural diesel. “Many of you believe that some city dwellers here in Berlin are making politics against the country,” he calls out to the crowd. “I come from the Bergisches Land and grew up next to forests, meadows and fields.” He’s a hunter and when he’s finished cleaning out the horse stable, he’s already exhausted. So he knows how hard the farmers work.
On the one hand, this is cleverly worded, but on the other hand, the reference to the horse stables also causes laughter in some places – if the minister was understood at all. Because the sound system is poor, in some areas Lindner and the previous speakers cannot be understood at all. Even when he says that after many conversations he has “a feeling” for the farmers’ situation, some people laugh.
“You can’t tell me you’re here because of agricultural diesel,” he shouts. “Something has built up over years and decades! Let’s talk about it!” This is also rhetorically clever, because that’s exactly what many farmers and farmer representatives have been saying for days: that the planned end of diesel subsidies was just the last straw. Or, as one farmer put it to ntv.de: It’s like a whole bucket that was still poured into the barrel. That’s why it’s spilling out so strongly now.
Traffic light factions begin dialogue
Lindner offers the farmers to talk “about the situation as a whole.” Now is the time to “question” the EU’s controversial requirement that farmers set aside four percent of their land and to discuss “excessive environmental standards.” Now is the opportunity to “name” the “ideological paternalism” of the companies.
These are important catchphrases from the farmers’ suggestion box – but instead of “questioning”, “discussing” and “naming” most of those present would probably have preferred him to say “abolish” each time. But the minister apparently doesn’t want to promise the demonstrators the blue sky. His dialogue offer goes hand in hand with that of the traffic light parties. The parliamentary group leaders of the SPD, Greens and FDP meet several farmer representatives after the rally. It was agreed that a new commission was not needed now, said Green Party leader Britta Haßelmann afterwards. The farmer representatives agree that there is no problem of knowledge, but rather an implementation problem. Implementing it, however, is the government’s job. She can no longer count on too much patience.