“Lazy compromise”
Farmers’ president threatens further demonstrations
January 10, 2024, 9:53 a.m
Farmers across the country have been protesting for three days over planned subsidy cuts. The federal government is taking part back. But the farmers’ president is not convinced by the decision. He doesn’t see any real relief in this.
On the third day of nationwide farmers’ protests, farmers’ president Joachim Rukwied threatened further demonstrations if the federal government did not completely withdraw its plans to cut agricultural subsidies. The partial withdrawal of the plans is a “rotten compromise” that means an additional burden on farmers, said Rukwied in the ZDF “Morgenmagazin”. “On Monday we will hold a large demonstration in Berlin, then we reserve the right to take further steps.”
The farmers’ protests are about “equality of competition and fairness in the EU,” said the farmers’ president. The government could end the demonstrations if it really reached out to the farmers. The nationwide protest week by farmers was sparked by planned cuts in agricultural subsidies due to the budget crisis. In view of the massive resistance from the industry, the federal government had largely withdrawn the cuts plans in advance, but this is not enough for the farmers.
Federal Agriculture Minister Cem Özdemir meanwhile accused the Union of contributing to the radicalization of the farmers’ protests. “The Union uses language that strengthens the wrong people,” Özdemir told the newspapers of the Funke media group. He referred to a post by the CDU parliamentary group in Saxony on the online network Facebook. This shows an aggressive farmer with a pitchfork.
The statement would give a boost to those who said, “Now we need a strong AfD because it doesn’t just take the pitchfork into the picture, but also uses it,” criticized the minister. Özdemir emphasized that the Union has been responsible for federal agriculture for 31 of the past 40 years. “Now she’s playing a cheap game and acting as if she had nothing to do with her politics, which meant the end for many farms.” Despite the justification of the farmers’ protest, he expects the democratic parties to “not shirk their responsibilities.”