German farmers on Monday blocked the streets in Berlin, the capital city of the country, with thousands of tractors to protest against the abolition of agricultural subsidies.
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According to local police, the rally, organized by the German Farmers’ Association (DBV) and held in front of the Brandenburg Gate, was attended by an estimated 8,500 protesters, who brought over 6,000 tractors to block the streets.
It marked the climax of a weeklong protest which started on Jan 8. Demanding that the federal government completely rescind its plans to abolish agricultural subsidies, farmers drove tractors from all over the country to Berlin, causing severe traffic congestion on highways and main roads.
The cuts were announced as part of the government’s plan to save the budget after the failed reallocation of 60 billion euros (65.4 billion U.S. dollars) in COVID-19 relief funds for the country’s Climate and Transformation Fund (CTF).
The austerity policy has sparked opposition from farmers nationwide, as the cuts may lay a heavy burden on them. At the rally site on Monday, farmers from all over the country expressed their anxiety by holding up signs saying, "No farmers, no food, no future!" and honking their horns continuously.
"The tax increases that the federal government is planning are going to put a heavy burden on farmers, so we have to fight them, and we have to protect farms that are facing threats to their survival," said Reinhard Jung, a policy advisor with the independent farmer group Freie Bauern (Free Farmers).
Amid the energy crisis and sustained high inflation in the past two years, many farms in Germany have been struggling under pressure. Protesters claimed that the federal government’s decision to reduce tax subsidies was the final straw, driving the already ailing agricultural sector over the edge.
"The energy crisis is sending shockwaves through the economy. We need to spend twice as much on fertilizer, and the price of pesticides has also risen. Today, we are protesting to demand a complete reversal of the policy of cutting agricultural subsidies," said a farmer from Thuringia.
Negotiations between the DBV and the governing coalition yielded no results on Monday.
(Source: Reuters)
