On Friday, the German Farmers Association (DBV) distanced itself from the blockade campaign by around 100 tractor drivers against German Vice Chancellor and Economy Minister Habeck. “Personal attacks, insults, threats, coercion or violence are not acceptable. Despite all the discontent, we of course respect the privacy of politicians”, said the president of the farmers' association, Joachim Rukwied, recently.
“With all the understanding of a living protest culture, no one should worry about such a brutalization of political mores,” wrote German government spokesman Steffen Hebestreit on Friday morning. “Violence and coercion are despicable and also harm the cause”, criticized German Agriculture Minister Cem Özdemir (Greens). German Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier expressed “shock” to the newspaper “Bild” (Saturday edition). “We cannot accept this,” Steinmeier said.
picturedesk.com/West CoastNews Protesters blocked German Economy Minister Robert Habeck from leaving a ferry on Thursday
Angry farmers stopped Habeck from leaving the ferry when he wanted to return from his holiday in Hallig Hooge – he later managed to reach the mainland. A spokeswoman for Habeck told dpa on Thursday regarding the incident at the ferry pier that the minister was ready for negotiations, but the security situation did not allow this. The Flensburg Public Prosecutor's Office opened an investigation on suspicion of coercion.
Farmers demand more concessions
The backdrop of the protest is the dispute over the German government's austerity measures to cut agricultural diesel subsidies, which have only been partially modified. Berlin recently contested that it wanted to renounce the abolition of the tax privilege on vehicles in agriculture in order to avoid the “sometimes considerable bureaucratic effort” for affected companies.
AP/Markus Schreiber The protest against the German Economy Minister was harshly criticized by the German government and the opposition
Furthermore, the abolition of tax benefits for agricultural diesel should be extended over time and implemented in several stages. However, the new concessions are still not enough for farmers. The abolition of the tax privilege for forestry and agriculture should have resulted in an additional income of 480 million euros, according to Westdeutscher Rundfunk (WDR). By abolishing tax benefits for agricultural diesel, the German government would like to generate additional revenue of up to 440 million euros.
The additional costs would not “cost farmers their existence”, a farmer from Saerbeck-Sinningen told WDR. “But it’s a small screw, a small gear: expenses increase and revenues decrease.” The protest is directed “against the entire set of laws and regulations that have been imposed on us recently”.
IMAGO/Funke Photo Services/Walter Fischer On January 2nd, several actions were mobilized against the cancellation of subsidies from the “traffic light government”.
More protests announced
Farmers association president Rukwied announced protests for next week despite the corrections. “We demand a complete reversal of these tax increases, without any ifs or buts.” “I expect tens of thousands of tractors to attend our rallies across Germany,” he told “Bild”. Rukwied announced that this would cause traffic disruptions.
At the start of Monday's protests, farmers wanted to block intersections and driveways with their tractors and paralyze traffic in many parts of the country, WDR reports. The climax of the protests will be a large demonstration in Berlin on January 15th.
Germany: Angry farmers stop Habeck
Angry farmers prevented German Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck (Greens) from leaving a ferry on the North Sea coast. A police spokesman said that yesterday they blocked the pier in Schlüttsiel.
Right-wingers want to co-opt protests
And other political actors are also mobilizing for demonstrations and rallies – but with their own interests, according to the content of the German media. The AfD, which is sometimes classified as right-wing extremist, and right-wing extremist groups such as the Free Saxons, have already called on people to join the protests.
The party that emerged from the protests against the CoV measures wanted to dominate the farmers' protests with its own rallies, writes Rede Editorial Germany (RND). There are also several videos circulating on social media that use the farmers' protests as an opportunity to call for a kind of “general strike”.
“That's enough! On January 8th, all citizens must take to the streets side by side”, says one of the videos, which is supported by German flags and uses “nationalist narratives”, reports the WDR. The RND also writes that some would not only long for the end of the federal government but also for a revolution.
AP/Fabian Sommer There have already been protests against the planned measures in Berlin
Farmers association distances itself from the “general strike”
The farmers' association distanced itself from such calls and declared in “.
The fact that many right-wing extremist actors see the farmers' protests as a welcome opportunity for “subversive fantasies” also has something to do with the public appearance of some farmers' associations, according to RND. In several places in Germany, farmers have recently set up gallows with traffic lights hanging from them.
BReg's plans to delete the #agricultural diesel they have not yet been ruled out and our week of action is getting closer.
It is clear to us: right-wing extremist groups, conspiracy theorists and other radicals have no place here.
🚜👩🌾 pic.twitter.com/Ev3pfqEDVR— German Farmers Association eV (@Bauern_Verband) January 4, 2024
Notice from the German Ministry of the Interior
The German Interior Ministry warned on Friday against attempts by extremist forces to abuse the farmers' protests. A spokesperson for German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser (SPD) said it can be assumed that actors across the right-wing extremist spectrum and those who want to delegitimize the state in particular will try to exploit the events for their own interests during the week. of protests. .
“The farmers' protests that will sweep the country in the coming days are probably just the beginning of a huge wave of protests that will roll towards us this year,” police union president Jochen Kopelke told Berlin's Tagesspiegel. This year, in any case, the mood in the country is expected to be heated, because there are three state elections in East Germany, in which the AfD is currently the strongest force in the polls.