Thousands of farmers descended on central Berlin with their tractors on Monday to protest planned cuts to agricultural subsidies.
Police said 6,600 people took part in the demonstration, while the German Farmers’ Union (DBV) put the number at between 8,000 and 10,000.
Benefits for farmers, including tax breaks on diesel used by agricultural heavy vehicles, are to be scrapped under measures announced last week after a shock court ruling overturned the government’s spending plans.
Joachim Rukwied, president of the DBV, said the cuts would cost farmers more than one billion euros ($1.1 billion) a year.
“This is a declaration of war and we are taking up the fight,” he said.
Protesters blocked one of central Berlin’s main streets near the Brandenburg Gate, throwing manure on the road.
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They also loudly booed and rattled cowbells at Agriculture Minister Cem Ozdemir, with some calling for new elections.
In an interview with ARD television, the minister admitted that the planned cuts would “overburden the sector”.
He told the protesters that he “fought in the cabinet to ensure that this does not happen in such a harsh way”.
Germany’s top court ruled last month that the government broke a constitutional rule on debt when it transferred 60 billion euros meant for pandemic support to a climate fund.
The bombshell decision blew a huge hole in spending plans and threw Chancellor Olaf Solz’s tripartite coalition into disarray.
After adopting an emergency budget for 2023, Scholz and his junior coalition partners fought for weeks before finally reaching an agreement for 2024 last week.
Source: AFP