Peasant protests across Germany against subsidy cuts began Monday with blockades on highways and tractor convoys in cities, causing major traffic problems. The traffic light coalition in Berlin is coming under increasing pressure, and not just from the opposition. In addition to many other sectors and opposition parties, farmers are now also receiving increasing support from the ruling SPD.
Several social democratic prime ministers have sharply criticized the Traffic Light Coalition’s planned subsidy cuts for agricultural diesel. The head of the Brandenburg government, Dietmar Woidke, demanded on the sidelines of a farmers’ meeting: “I can only advise the federal government to completely reverse the cuts.” The SPD politician spoke of a “short-term decision without coordination with the profession” and asked that support for farmers from his state is in prospect.
Prime Ministers at protests
The Prime Minister of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Manuela Schwesig (also SPD), also understands that the farmers are “pissed off” – “because two sources of financing will be taken out of them overnight without notice.” The head of government also attended a protest. It is good that the motor vehicle tax plans are back on the shelf. “Now the plans for agricultural diesel must also be taken off the table,” Schwesig continued.
Expressions of solidarity also came on Monday from Stephan Weil, the head of the SPD government in Lower Saxony. According to him, farmers are not primarily concerned with money. It is time to implement a “coherent overall agricultural policy strategy that farmers have been waiting for for twenty years,” Weil said in the ZDF “Morgenmagazin”.
Habeck defends the cuts
Economic Affairs Minister Robert Habeck (Greens), who witnessed first-hand the farmers’ anger last week when a ferry docked on the North Sea, expressed his understanding for the farmers’ concerns. At the same time, the minister defended the traffic light coalition’s cuts. Ultimately, despite the measures, the federal government receives a significant share of agricultural subsidies.
Things should calm down on the protest front on Tuesday, before more actions are planned on Wednesday, according to a spokesperson for the German farmers’ association.
Source: Krone
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