Roads across Germany are blocked by German farmers in tractors on Monday morning. Report that German media. The farmers have started a week-long protest against austerity plans for agriculture. The German government wants to eliminate a number of subsidies for the sector.
The farmers’ plan is to bring the entire country to a standstill. The protests look different in the states, including farmers driving slowly or blocking highway entrances. The protests threaten to seriously impede traffic in many places.
Traffic chaos can be seen throughout the country. In Munich, the police count 5,500 vehicles that have gathered towards a protest in the city. The traffic information center expects huge traffic jams in the capital Berlin during the day: up to 300 tractors are expected. On some roads there is straw, manure and animal feed. According to the NDR, hundreds of farmers are participating in the protest in the northern state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. The state of Rhineland-Palatinate is counting on possibly more than 10,000 farmers demonstrating.
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Aggressive farmers’ protest despite compromise on German agricultural subsidies
In the agreement that the German coalition parties concluded in December, certain tax benefits for farmers were abolished. But after criticism from the sector, they came to a new compromise last week to accommodate farmers. Under the new agreement, agricultural vehicles will remain road tax-free and the discount on diesel will be phased out gradually, instead of being abolished all at once. The chairman of the German Farmers’ Association, Joachim Rukwied, told the regional channel Norddeutscher Rundfunk (NDR) also finds the current savings on agriculture unacceptable.