According to police, about a hundred farmers blocked the ferry landing stage in Schlüttsiel in the state of Schleswig-Holstein. Habeck, also vice-chancellor, was unable to disembark and was forced to return to the island of Hooge, where he was apparently on holiday.
A spokeswoman for Habeck told the DPA news agency that he would have liked to speak with the farmers. “However, the security situation did not allow dialogue with all farmers. Unfortunately, Minister Habeck’s offer to talk to individual farmers was not accepted,” he said.
The German government wants to phase out fuel subsidies for the agricultural sector in the coming years. Initially it was planned to immediately eliminate all subsidies, but it has now been decided to do so gradually. Government spokesman Steffen Hebestreit called the protest in a message on X “shameful and contrary to the rules of democratic coexistence.”